BELFAST DREAMCATCHER (60” x 36”- mixed media) Securely tucked in bed, behind multiple bolts on the front door and with the hypervigilance of parents, the child tries to sleep. The sweet dreams of innocence never come, nor does peaceful sleep. It is the noise, the guns, the bombs, the discord, and the sounds of hate that fill the nighttime hours. During the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s, as Belfast adopted symbols of segregation, disunity and hate, Native Americans embraced Dream Catcher’s as a symbol of unity and peace. Place one beside your bed, they said, it will catch any harm that may come to you as you sleep. The circling ring or holder of The Belfast Dreamcatcher is barbed wire and its feathers are trails of blood. The center web is missing, leaving an eerie void. The grown man keeps an Indian Dreamcatcher beside his bed now, but it does not work. It has yet to capture the harm; the harm has already been done. The man can only hope for peace. |