This series is a homage and symbolic visual representation of the people who came before us. Of the people we don’t see who create all the things we enjoy daily. Behind everything we enjoy there is a person whose energy went into the creation and end product of that “thing”. The blood in these images represents life, without blood we could not live. blood represents life energy that runs through our veins. I believe that when we take any action our life energy and emotional state is infused into that thing. Hence the phrase, “it’s made with love”. Have you ever realized how when something is created, such as food, in a state of love how different that tastes? Then if someone makes the same dish in a state of hatred , anger or indifference?

Do you ever take the time to think of the history of the things you use/eat daily? The history in regards to the people who created what you are consuming. Who they are? What conditions are they creating in? This isn’t nor does not only apply to the consumption of food. This topic is broader and deeper. Especially as Americans. Do you think about the land you are on and wonder how it came to be? Do you think of those who came before you?

What happens when the land, items and foods we use are cultivated through injustice? What happens when they are cultivated against the will of another human being at the expense of their bloodied hands? How does it make you feel to know what you have and own is at the expense of a human whose life’s energy investment they can nor will ever get back? And when life energy was stolen from them and put into the items you consume, how do you think that affects you? How do you think that energy contributes to your life?

As the human race it’s important to note that even though we are one, our histories as individuals/cultures/ancestors differ greatly. Have you reflected on your personal history? Do you know the stories that precede you and are now part of you?

For Those with a ancestry of being an oppressor:

How do those stories shape you?

Does it bother you that your ancestor possibly or did make their way through society at the cost of others who were unwillingly subjected to the Will of someone who wanted their own will pursued and  didn’t care about the human life that exists in the people they subjected? They thought themselves of higher value than the same people who feel as they do. They thought themselves of higher value than the same people who are made up of the same bone, tissue, and consciousness as you. The same people they thought themselves different and superior to  yet they bleed the same way you do. They cry the same you do. They mourn the same way you do. Experience the loss the same way you do and are happy the same way you are when their children grow. 

Are the benefactors of oppression a contributor to it, when they don’t consciously acknowledge how their advancement in society came from the results of those oppressed? And then further act to make a forward change in the world?

So much of what we have access to is built and/or cultivated by the hands of other people. And it’s our responsibility to remember them because we are a community. The whole world is a community. And what happens in one place affects humanity as a whole. What happens to an individual happens to the collective story of humanity.

Are the predecessors of the oppressed forfeiting the efforts of those who came before them, when they don’t acknowledge the efforts and history of their ancestors? And then further act to make a forward change in the world?

I guess the ultimate question is:

How do we acknowledge our past and those that contribute to the lives we live, to make our current world more inclusive, honoring and connected to all parts involved?

Open sizes available, email me to speak together.