These self-portraits were inspired by what I learned from Mexican women of African descent about their traditional healing and spiritual practices. In my research in “La Costa Chica” of Mexico, I have learned about this ritual, “La Limpia”, a form of energetic cleansing which I believe is rooted in West African Indigenous and Indigenous North American traditions. Learning these rituals from the Mexican women, I feel that I have “found” the healing traditions that my great-grandmother and grandmother could not pass down to me, because of the circumstances under which they lived in the United States. Here in the United States, such cultural traditions were not encouraged and were actively repressed.
I have photographed my body together with some of the objects and materials that are used in the rituals, or that are symbols in African based spiritual systems and philosophies. The gestures in the photographs refer to Kongo beliefs and practices in which bodily postures convey meaning about attitudes and aspects of character that are valued in the Kongo system and were often reflected in sculptural art.
These pieces are sepia toned silver gelatin prints on fiber, with gold leaf surface work measuring 18.5" x 18.5".
