I'm pleased to announce that I'll be giving a free online talk for Morbid Anatomy on September 28, 2026, at 5:00 PM MST.
The presentation is based on my new book, Glass Bones: Art, Mortality, and the Human Mind, a project that grew out of more than three decades of artistic practice and years of research into mortality, creativity, psychology, and meaning-making.
At the center of the talk are two questions that have followed me throughout much of my life and work: What happens when a species becomes aware of its own mortality? And do creative people respond to that awareness differently than everyone else?
Drawing from Ernest Becker, Otto Rank, Terror Management Theory, evolutionary psychology, existential philosophy, and my own experiences as an artist working with nineteenth-century photographic processes, I'll explore how awareness of death shapes human behavior, culture, identity, and creative expression.
We'll look at why human beings construct systems of meaning, why those systems are so fiercely defended, and why artists often find themselves working near the edges of those protective structures. I'll discuss the metaphor behind the title Glass Bones, the relationship between creativity and mortality, and how art can function not as an escape from death but as a way of engaging with it more honestly.
The talk will also include images from the book, including photographs, tintypes, ambrotypes, paintings, and mixed-media works created over the course of my career.
For those familiar with my writing, this presentation serves as an introduction to the ideas that connect Glass Bones, Rupture, and In the Shadow of Sun Mountain. For those new to the work, it's an accessible entry point into the intersection of art, psychology, and the human struggle to create meaning in the face of impermanence.
One phrase that has stayed with me throughout this project is simple:
The scholar of mortality is still mortal.
No amount of theory removes us from the human condition. The questions explored in Glass Bones are not abstract problems to be solved. They are conditions we all live within. I hope that this conversation opens space for reflection on creativity, consciousness, and what it means to live with the knowledge that our time is limited.
Registration is free.
I hope you'll join us.
September 28, 2026
5:00 PM MST
Hosted by Morbid Anatomy
Event Information:
https://www.morbidanatomy.org/events-tickets/p/free-online-talk-glass-bones-art-mortality-and-the-human-mind