The artifacts created from my practice act as an archive of my explorations of being with, learning from + collaborating with human +  non-human community; a meditative immersion into repetitive arrangements of material to create visual ghazals.  I make these works mostly out of inks and dyes derived from plants or watercolors made of ochres, willow ash and brick. 

Through my practice I seek to reestablish forgotten and disrupted  relationships and patterns between humans and the rest of creation that have been destroyed by settler colonial anthropocentrism, heterosurpremacy, the constructed binary of gender + the fractured understanding of where the self begins + ends. I look to ancient folk tales, celebrations, rituals and art forms to guide my reconstruction and remembering of these relationships. 

Yalda Night is a celebration of resilience and a ceremony of community love and care. It asks us to hold and protect each other in our darkest time. To nourish each other with fruit,  sweets and stews. In the absence of the sun, we hold fire together and are protected from the dangers of being in darkness for too long or while alone. We read poetry and practice divination, utilizing the light we each hold inside of ourselves to warm and keep each other safe. Yalda celebrates our ability to co regulate and regenerate with one another.  It honors the return of light to our life after this long period of darkness; the return of Mithra, our yalda queen,  our god of light, who comes to us more each day as we cross over the winter solstice. 

Each year I deepen my understanding of these practices and the way they align with our earths rhythms and patterns of regeneration. 

I consider my practice as a ceremonialist as an alchemy that can rebuild and remember sacred relationships, patterns  and processes. Curiosity, learning  and connection are integral to this practice as it is reflective and relational. I seek a re-belonging to this land that can only be possible with deep study and rigorous listening. I do this for personal liberation and to move toward a regenerative way of being on this land and with others who also inhabit it.