Kaleidoscope Vision
Art + Reflection by Sofia Rector
With its faceted lenses and colorful elements that combine and recombine with a shift of the hand that holds it, a kaleidoscope is a study in perspectives. Looking through its view-finder reminds me that it is possible to understand the world I see – and the words I read or hear – through the (inevitably fractured) lens of my own culture or experience.
Is this taking a toy too seriously? Maybe so. Let’s step away for a moment to play.
Remember with me: holding a kaleidoscope, squinting into it to see the tessellated reflections of a known room, or the bright mosaic created by beads settling just-so against the bottom lenses. How might the patterns change as you turned your body to another vantage point, or turned the tube?
A key component of play is curiosity, and if there’s anything we can bring to engage humbly within potentially fraught conversations, it’s curiosity. Curiosity about the many-faceted contexts for the debates; about why and how others hold their perspectives; about how our own views have been formed and why we hold them…
What questions might we ask, and how might we listen and consider?
ABOUT THE ARTIST
SOFIA RECTOR
An artist and writer with a contemplative bent, Sofia Rector seeks to witness and add to the beauty she sees from her home in the northern suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio. She finds joy whether exploring the outdoors with her husband and son or curling up with a good book, her journal, and a mug of black coffee or tea. Sofia shares her mixed media artwork, written reflections, and glimpses of the everyday beautiful on Instagram. She also sells original artwork and receives commission requests on Etsy.
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