Day 6 / The Laying of Hands
Edgar Sorrells-Adewale, The Laying On of Hands is a Time Honored Ritual, 1997. Philadelphia Museum of Art
IF WE DEPEND ON SIGHT—WHICH SEEMS TO OFFER A FRICTIONLESS DOMINATION OVER REALITY—WE MAY AVOID THE PAINS AND UNCERTAINTIES OF LIVING, BUT WE ALSO LOSE OUR INVOLVEMENT WITH LIFE.
— GABRIEL JOSIPOVICI, TOUCH
In this vibrant print, blue, red, and yellow avian forms gather in the center, surrounded by spiraling patterns of punctuation-like forms. Blue cursive at bottom right reads, “The laying on of hands is a time-honored ritual regarding the awakening of insight. Its motion is the inexorable twiness of the serpent and its wisdom is the ability to see what’s hidden in plain view.” Carefully melding textual and expressive elements, Philadelphia-born printmaker and artist Edgar Sorrells-Adewale’s (b. 1936) The Laying On of Hands is a Time Honored Ritual represents a ritual of its own. Notably, the handprints’ tactile imprint calls to mind the repetitive labor and care inherent to lithography, the form of printmaking that Sorrells-Adewale utilized in this work. In a lithograph, the artist etches a design into limestone and then presses paper onto the stone. Because this print includes multiple colors, each layer would have been engraved and printed separately, laying atop one another to create the combination of elements we see.
Sorrells-Adewale’s handprint imagery calls to mind different acts of touch. The “laying on of hands” could evoke a priest or other spiritual figure who physically touches a person or object of concern in a symbolic or formal act of healing or blessing. Or perhaps the handprint evokes the tactile process of printmaking, or being touched by a caregiver or loved one. Touch is a way to understand our connection to others and is integral to healing. It can help us be present, strengthen empathy, and make others feel recognized and seen. Amid a pandemic that has altered our ability to be close to one another, many have come to experience touch differently.
reflections
How do you remain connected with loved ones in the absence of touch or physical presence?
Has there been a moment when touch was particularly meaningful for you?
What other sensorial experiences have been, or could be, important in your healing process?
What are the creative rituals or self-care practices that enhance meaning in your life, just as printmaking was for this artist?
Sources
“Full Spectrum: Prints from the Brandywine Workshop: September 7, 2012–November 25, 2012.” Philadelphia Museum of Art. Accessed October 14, 2021. https://philamuseum.org/ exhibitions/2012/755.html.
“Our History.” Brandywine Workshop and Archives. Accessed October 14, 2021. https://brandywineworkshopandarchives.org/ history-and-achievements.
Verghese, Abraham. “Culture shock–patient as icon, icon as 433 patient.” New England Journal of Medicine 359, no. 26 (2008): 2748–51.
