“Heartifacts,” a portmanteau of “heart” and “artifacts” is a series of mixed media artworks inspired by my mom’s survival of an out of hospital cardiac arrest.

It is a tribute to the lifesaving potential of CPR, the power of community and prayer, and all of the hard work of countless medical professionals who helped bring my mom back to life.

While my mom was in the ICU and PCU at one of the best medical centers in our state, my family and I stayed in the facility’s hospitality house. As we sat in uncertainty, we were comforted by the warmth of endless cups of tea, coffee, hot chocolate and chicken broth. I saved some of the coffee filters from the coffee we drank at the hospitality house, unsure at first what I would do with them. I decided to pour my own heart out onto them. To create. To process. To understand. And in this, “heartifacts” was realized.

The coffee filters are decorated with anatomical sketches inspired by those in aged medical books, embroidery, and gold and silver leaf. They are mounted on 6x6” vintage double-knit quilt squares, framed in simple black frames.