Blood Memory ruptures the representation of the altar (typically following religion or ritual), focusing instead on the intuitive while still creating spells that honor ancestors and homelands. Using a variety of media – collage, photography, everyday objects and audio – Candida Gonzalez creates five installations that connect to the spaciousness of memorialization. Smells, music, everyday sounds and textures from their homeland of Puerto Rico awaken blood memories as medicine that exists in the objects. 

In Caldero Familiar, a kitchen installation is accompanied by handmade collages and audio to reflect how we use food to connect with and honor our homelands on a daily basis. In the participatory installation Blood Memory, visitors are asked to interact with a variety of objects until they find one that invokes a memory from their body, write a love letter to it and place it on the corresponding altar.  I Wear Gold to Talk to My Ancestors explores how we use our bodies and adornment to be in relationship with our ancestors and the things that were important to them. The participatory installation En Duelo recreates a more traditional bedroom altar to the dead but moves it into a communal space where visitors can contribute and find space to explore their grief over lost loved ones.

Curated by Tricia Heuring for Public Functionary.

Press:

MplsArt: Trusting Your Blood: A Conversation with Cándida Gonzalez

Dovetail: Blood Memory