Catalog Entry from If These Walls Could Talk Exhibit, Neill-Cochran House 2020:

One of the lasting pleasures of seeing art in situ, in an enclosed space, is recalling that place in times of need, such as going to the dentist or having an MRI. The Arena (or Scrovegni) Chapel is my favorite virtual reality vision…you have to walk around in there to get the full effect. Giotto’s blue starry vault soars above and it is offset by the lower fresco panels in grisaille. The classic seven vices and virtues are depicted there. They were extolled as everyday experiences—or habits. Habits, like setting the table or being diligent about money. Most dining tables are set for eight; this is an odd number. But it leaves room for the unexpected, hoped for guest, like Elijah at the Passover Seder. In my Thanksgiving story, Chlora and her aunt set the table, and Chlora asks, “Who wants to eat off these [virtues and vices]?” Her aunt replies that “holiness is nothing but a set of habits, so we might as well get habitual about it.” Chlora then asks, “What is the difference between a habit and a chore?” and thinks to herself that someday she will make her own set of china “somewhere between Judy Chicago’s dinner plates and Haviland.”