EX-VOTOS FOR THE EARTH
“Ex-voto for a black stone”, oil on linen, 33cm x 41cm, 2023
Full image. Caption reads: “Sometimes a mysterious illness requires a mysterious remedy. My mother gives thanks for the medicine hidden in stones.”
This piece was inspired by a story my mother tells about a strange digestive disorder which was healed by sitting on a shiny black stone after it had sat in moonlight for seven nights.
“Ex-voto for a night-blooming jasmine”, oil on linen, 33cm x 41cm, 2023
Caption reads: I give thanks to the nocturnal flowers who teach me that certain beings need darkness to bloom”
“Ex-voto for an anthill”, oil on linen, 33cm x 41cm, 2023
Caption reads: “When my mother was a child, her life was saved by a neighbor who knew the old medicine. I give thanks to the mysterious laws between humans and ants.”
This piece was inspired by a story where my mother was healed by a colony of fire ants who died upon touching her, absorbing her trauma.
“Ex-voto for an imaginary tree”, oil on linen, 33cm x 41cm, 2023
Caption reads: “I give thanks to the magnolia tree that accompanied me in childhood, though it later turned out that it never existed.”
This piece was inspired by many vivid memories I have of standing underneath a magnolia tree in my childhood. As an adult, I shared these memories with my mother and she said we never had a magnolia tree in our yard. It was my imaginary friend.