“Remembrance”, acrylic & gold leaf on canvas, left-hand & broken finger painting, for silent domestic violence awareness & auction.
…
Aggression is inherited. It pulses through my veins — remnants of my ancestors and seeds from my lovers — and I hear whispers of it when I find myself lost in the space between the Now and the Unknown. When I do not stop to rest my gaze upon it, it turns to syrup and sticks to the insides. I collect it.⠀

The pounding from downstairs, the shouts from the lower pasture, the sobbing at dinner. And it didn’t start there. The resonance of heavy beliefs, the hushed disconnect from the land, the booming consequences of greed; the hollow vows, forced migrations, extraordinary expectations.⠀

When cupped in the palms of my hands, these atrocious remembrances have heartbeats. They crave to feel the warmth of the morning’s light and the graze of twilight’s breeze. And when stroked with surrender, they raise up my fingertips — raise them up toward the heavens, taller and lighter and grander than before.⠀

Here, they dissipate into the lullabies of the ether and stories of the land: remembrances of where we were, of which we’ll never return.⠀

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Across the globe, the Gladiolus represents sincerity, preparedness and remembrance. In Kundalini traditions, the scent of Gladioli is said to activate the fire in the soul, raise the vibration of the body, clear mass consciousness, facilitate transition, and enable ascension. Blooms climb the stalk, reaching toward the sky like a ladder to the heavens.⠀

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This painting went up for auction ONLINE, supporting Rise Above Violence, the local support and advocacy organization for sexual and domestic violence victims in Archuleta County.