“Bonds of Kindness”

Art Installation 40 MT2. Mixed media acrylic, fabrics, fique, wool, wood, chunky yarn, boat rope, metal.

Show: Paxos Biennale open June - October 2024 Paxos, Greece.

Curated by The Krank

During those almost 12 days, I worked in a living, breathing space, alongside a 2500-year-old grandmother Olive tree, and it was utterly impressive. At first, my mind kept telling me that it was all too much, that I had to deliver a work of art, (the old way of thinking) but that tree showed me the magic of humbleness, and kindness and I simply surrendered. I realized that I wasn't going to produce a final product; I was going to live the experience of being in the now, of strengthening my freedom, as a human, as a woman, and as an artist. This Emancipation was the act of freeing myself, this sense of liberation from old narratives and expectations was like feeling vulnerable, and I could talk to the tree, feeling that everything was going to be alright. I could work surrounded by thousands of species of spiders, snakes, mice, and lizards, all enjoying life in every moment, and I, in that space, in that trunk that only protected me, was something I can't explain with words. It's love. I guess. Pure love, the JOY of being alive, every day I cried just for being there, for feeling so much, living in flesh and blood the “murmur” of its leaves, seeing how the light fell on its bark. "La Chochona," as I called her, has been the most powerful ancestral skin I've ever felt. And she, in a lovely, kind way, opened up space for me to work and weave my colorful thoughts and memories, without any pressure to deliver something. It was truly transformative, opening the holes in the earth with my hands was like feeling a rebirth. That tree was overflowing with abundance, humbleness, and kindness.

Art installation around a 2500 years old Olive tree in Paxos, Greece.

Detail of the installation around the tree

Detail entrance of the Olive tree