Passage. I was sitting on waves in the middle of a rocking ocean and I looked as far as I could see in many directions, and all there was was sky. And I sent myself into each noticed thing—the ocean and its rocking, the waves, the distances, the sky. I did this to make myself whole. I did this to survive what otherwise would sink me.
Beginning with this recitation by poet, scholar, psychologist, mentor, and Black psychoanalyst Forrest Hamer, Ph.D., Passage is a profound piece of chamber music by Mia Pixley. Completed by the artist while on residency at Lucid Art Foundation in Inverness near Point Reyes—that little strip of land wedged between Tomales Bay, Drakes Bay, and the vastness of the Pacific Ocean—the work is a concept album of sorts, with each track sending the listener into “each noticed thing.” Bringing together keys, voices, stringed instruments, and percussion, it sometimes sounds explicitly classical (“The Ocean”) while other times more like indie rock (“The Distances). It’s short—under 20 minutes—but seems as vast as the sea.
