Taking meaning from the traditions of Dia de Muertos and creating a visual expression rooted in the southern depression era. Inspired by my grandmother’s house, It has found materials, walnut wood from trees that died in the yard bent like a folk basket. Legs from a stove that no longer works, replaced stair railing that was saved. My grandmother’s dress fabric and jewelry. She often played with gumball and acorns as a child. Thread on the top shelf welcomes her back to sew and quilt. The second shelve I placed across a live plant from her home, along with a happy photograph of me and my grandmother hoping people smile and evoke warm feelings upon gazing.
My family traditionally cries, prays silently, and is somber at funerals. I appreciate the contrasting Dia tradition of celebrating the dead and leaving items on an alter the loved one can occupy themselves with upon the day of returning. My grandmother loved to watch TV. She had 10 children. Photos of all her living children on each television. Paper birds surround the altar with the faces of her dead children to fly and be with her in heaven. The hanging Sacred Heart I made from a dress she wore often. Traditional Dia skulls are paper mache with crossword puzzles because she loved to “work puzzles”. As I worked on this Altar I regularly prayed and meditated and often felt the presence of my grandmother as a free pure soul full of love.
