2020-2021
These were all made in 2020-2021 and relate to concepts of mutual aid, self-care, community care, and solidarity. Throughout the pandemic, we have seen a rise in mutual aid efforts, whether it be through health care, providing groceries, sustaining organizations working towards social justice, and more. Mutual aid is based on concepts of solidarity and community care that are required when the systems of power that exist fail to support our basic human needs. It’s about taking responsibility to care for one another--compassionate cooperation rather than capitalistic competition. Self-Care looks different for everyone. The isolation at home during the pandemic has had its moments of difficulty but also of self-reflection. The collective grieving of life before COVID but also of the passing on of loved ones has left many of us hurting. We are all experiencing the pandemic, but are each affected differently. Hopefully one thing we take from this journey is an observation of our needs and how to greater care for and balance our physical, mental, and spiritual health.
Condense (Cloud), Evaporate (Sun), Precipitate (Rain)
This triptych personifies the cyclical nature of water and our human relationship to the elements. It reflects waves of emotions, growth, and change that each person goes through in a day, a year, or a lifetime. The sun shines on the earth, evaporating bodies of water, and this might reflect nourishment or renewal. Then the water vapor forms into clouds through condensation, with feelings of fullness–perhaps satisfying or overwhelming. Finally, the water becomes so heavy that rainfall occurs through precipitation, signifying grief, release, or even joy. And then the process repeats. We know that our climate is in need of balance. I made this work during COVID-19 quarantine whilst thinking a great deal about plant medicine, mental health, body awareness, and the continuous violence enacted upon people of color and the planet. We are not separate from nature. What lessons have we forgotten that she has to teach us?
I am delighted by the amount of people who are finding home in their continued or newborn interest in plants, especially during this pandemic era where we’ve realized just how important they are to us. We each have a connection to plants, but if it has been lost, we are always able to find it again–to remember. Every culture has ties to plant food medicine that has helped us survive and thrive for generations. Having a conscious relationship with the earth allows us to reconnect and to recall that she gives us life, and to care for her in return. I started this series of small gardening paintings in 2020 without any plan to exhibit them after recalling that I can make art just because it feels good to create. They are dedicated to those who are feeling a need to instinctively put their hands in the dirt in times of struggle, to embrace plant medicine, to decolonize our diets, and to know where our food comes from. Gardening, a natural act of harmonizing with the land, can be seen as a radical action. It encourages new economies, plant-based consumption, spiritual reclamation, and compassion for our planet. There is an eye on the side of each made out of corn husks who is watching these actions. Nuestra Madre Tierra, Mother Earth, sees us, welcomes us, and acknowledges our actions and our growth as we reclaim this knowledge.