I see the light....

I'm back! Things have been very busy lately with our show coming up. We have 18 days left and I'm nervous getting a bit nervous about how it will all turn out. Not the bad kind of nervous but more of a excited/oh my god it's almost over nervous. I've settled on bases for my busts. I decided to make two tiered oval bases that are sleek and modern but sort of nod to classical bust bases. I'm looking at Janine Antoni and Kiki Smith a lot as the show is coming together. I'm also looking at a lot of info about altars and ofrendas. Especially Mesa Blanca's and Santeria altars. I'll be installing an altar with the flag I made and the rosary.

I'm making candles based on Templar candles out of plaster gauze. I've been painting on them so they're kind of cartoonish and childish. I decided to sort of defy traditionally Yoruba Santeria traditions and use images of women in my family that are both alive and passed on. Typically you are not supposed to use images of living people in a Mesa Blanca or in most Yoruba traditions but I think there is something significant about using them in this case. I wanted to mix references that I grew up around and are significant. I'll be installing them on the altar with the book I've been making.

I also have the plexi shelf done for the pastels and I'm planning on installing it with a salt semi-circle. Salt is a terribly important aspect of Dominican Haitian Afro-Latino culture. I went to a talk with Eldridge Danticat, a fantastic Haitian writer, and the timing of the talk with what I was thinking about with the pastels just seemed so right. In a lot of afro Caribbean cultures Salt is used to both ward off evil spirits and bring the dead back to life or consciousness. It's the only thing that can keep a person from being a zombie in Haitian culture and it's also placed in strategic lines in certain rituals in Puerto Rican religious practices. I wanted the pastels to look like an offering and I think adding that extra touch will hit the right tones with subtlety and sophistication.

And finally I have one more bust that I started and posted a bit about. MY MARY! I'm embroidering some Taino symbols and a Vulva on the back. Also just now while typing the word vulva, which is totally a word, my computer keeps autocorrecting it to Velva. DUMB.  Below is a shot a took of the beading process. I had a wonderful series of opening this past weekend. Below is a shot of my wall. I'll post more about that next time. PEACE!!