Hearts that Flow Like Rivers, 2022
Jenelle Esparza
Hearts that Flow Like Rivers, 2021-22
Glazed stoneware
He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. - John 7:38
The Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan commissioned San Antonio-based interdisciplinary artist Jenelle Esparza to reflect on and commemorate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and all who faced its innumerable challenges head-on.
Esparza interviewed several frontline hospital staff representing various departments to gather insight into the pandemic from those doing the critical groundwork. This collection of interviews culminated in an art piece, which symbolically acts as an altar to acknowledge a period of great loss and resilience. The motif of interlocking hands in each arched frame is an infinite pattern that flows like a river. It represents the sacredness of water, the continuation of life, and how hospital staff carried each other through extraordinary physical and emotional grief.
The arch consists of emblems, each symbolizing a unique experience shared during the interview process. They express profound personal and professional encounters from within this hospital during one of the most intense periods at the height of our global crisis exposing the humanity and collective sacrifice this community of healthcare workers undertook.
Staff Quotes from project:
"Us as nurses are here to comfort them and be that team player like we are a part of their family.”
“People were dying alone. People were dying with strangers, with us. We were the ones pretty much walking them to heaven.”
“If you’re a nurse, you’re a healer and if you’re in this business it’s because you have the heart of a servant."
“To look at something like this and see everyone’s experiences and what we all went through but to know that we’re all a team, I think it’s beautiful.”
“We are your family now. That’s it, just us and the patients.”