The leaves of root plants (dasheen, yam, tania) that are widely used in Dominican cuisine can be found in most personal gardens. Due to their everyday presence in local landscapes such plants bear an intrinsic connection to the cultural memory of the country.
These plants became the canvas of my work, while ferns, vines, flowers also featured, intending to pay homage to Dominicans’ broader human connections to the plant world and preserve memory in a fragile way.
After exhibiting this work locally I offered the original prints to the families of those they featured.
While the premises of domination of nature is spread by Western culture reaches all corners of our planet, Away with the river attempts to portray a cultural landscape that bears strong feelings of belonging and confidence in nature. Where daily human life is dependent on the immediate natural surroundings; and where nature is considered both a threat to life and a key to recovery after a disaster.
Healing
The last prints, reviving memories of the two daughters of Melia came into existence in the backyard where Destiny and Yakairah lost their lives. While I was working in their backyard Melia often stood next to me looking at the prints sharing quiet intimate moments. I offered that she could make the prints of her daughters by herself but she refused. She told me that she could not.
After the exhibition, one day before I left the island I gave my materials to her. My last journey the next day led to her house for a goodbye, where she prepared a gift for me.
Two prints that she made for herself and kept away from the sunlight which would claim them back ahead of time. The pictures of her two lost daughters.
In picture: a print is being made of a woman who requested her portrait to be made with the method after seeing the exhibition in Roseau.