This votive object is a rosary made in Siberia, Russia. It contains 59 beads connected by a rusty chain, with a cross and a crown medallion. The rosary prayer, for which the rosary is used, is prayered in a meditative and repetitive manner; the different […]
This is a photograph taken at my aunt Christine’s and uncle Bill’s wedding in North Carolina by their family friend Mr. Tom. Digital cameras were not invented until the 1990s and my aunt and uncle married in 1980, so Mr. Tom used a portable roll film-based camera. […]
This votive object is a wooden miniature that represents a danzante or dancer that performs in La Danza de los Viejitos or Dance of the Old Men. This wooden miniature was once owned by my uncle, Mario, […]
This wooden figurine is a representation of a Japanese float used in the annual Furukawa festival, located in Takayama. It depicts a yatai with multiple platforms and decorations […]
This votive object is an old model of a Samsung SCL 650 Hi8 Camcorder. The object has a deck for cassette tapes and is silver, black, and grey […]
This Shabbat candlestick belonged to my great-great grandmother, who brought it to North America from Western Imperial Russia in 1905. It is narrow, heavy, gold-colored, and covered in melted wax. The candlestick, which has […]
Understand Me
rigid and cold complicated to play
it smells like wood
when I tiptoe on the wooden floorboards
into your room
and I hope we don’t shout
the strings are broken and out of tune
it sounds like me
it sounds like you
pause
upstroke
downstroke
wrong
downstroke
upstroke
wrong again
but I played it right
but not perfect
carved delicately
the way you pose in a picture
erect posture
plastered […]
Balance
I can remember that feeling of fire and the moon
Light and dark
But blinding either way
This was always your job
To use the strength of your protective nature
For generations to come
But at the same time I couldn’t see
How the duality of your motions
(good and evil)
Pumped the life blood of harmony and preservation
When I, myself, was the […]
This ex-voto was purchased in Argentina circa 2005. What is significant about the piece is its brutality; Vito Munzone’s leg is pictured under the wheel of a mill, […]
This rectangular laminated card with pale pink and white colors surrounding a young picture of my grandmother is a prayer card that memorializes and honors my grandmother’s death. The card was produced by Unity Funeral Chapel in partnership with Honor […]
