In Memorium

Creative Process

My original creative path regarding the sculpture’s final project under the general concept of “Eggshells” primarily commenced as an attempt to portray the idea of reincarnation through traditions and myths as well as to construct a visualization which would incorporate elements of gender, cultural and racial issues, sexuality and challenging of human boundaries’ perception flirting with the notion of superpower.  Upon extensively researching urban legends, traditions and folklore regarding reincarnation I came upon two similar burial rituals that intrigued me. Which the second one is still occurring in several occasions in a tiny island in the pacific ocean called Kiribati.

The first one, was an Early Neolithic burial practices seem to indicate a belief in the spiritual presence and influence of deceased members of one’s group. At Tell Qaramel in northern Syria, one of the oldest known settlements (ca. 11,000 - 9650 BCE), skulls were found either in groups or alone, some plastered with clay to recreate the face, which was then painted skin-color and placed in a specific area, presumably for veneration or at least remembrance. Bodies were buried in the flex in-utero position perhaps ready to be born anew in the spirit world. Children who died young were buried intact, which leads scholars to think that adult brains may well have been eaten at death as a way to pass on the deceased’s essential qualities to the living. Jericho was originally founded by sedentary foragers/collectors in the Natufian Period some 12,800 - 10,500 years ago, predating Çatalhöyük by 3,000 years. Excavations revealed sometimes up to nine human skulls buried beneath the floor of these Neolithic houses. Their faces were modeled in plaster often with inset cowrie shells for eyes and painted representations of hair and other facial features. Plastered skulls were also found at other sites, for example in Kfar HaHoresh in the Nazareth Hills of Lower Galilee in Israel and in Beidha, near Petra in Jordan.

The second custom is widely known as “Skull-burial” and by following a specific ritual described below the beloved deceased is given a second chance in the afterlife to accompany his family.

Kiribati (best pronounced as “kee-ree-bus “, the native pronunciation of Gilberts)  is an island nation in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. The Kiribati people practice mostly Christian burial customs due to the presence of missionaries in that area in the 19th century but in certain occasions their folklore routes persevere and a very interesting process follows death.  On this tiny island the deceased is laid out in their house for no less than three days and as long as twelve, depending on their status in the community.  Friends and relatives make a pudding from the root of a local plant as an offering. The people of Kiribati do not want the corpse to smell bad so they burn leaves close to the skin, put oil into the mouth and insert sweet – smelling flowers in ears and nostrils. If the skin was coming off of the body they would pull it off and put it inside a coconut with scented oil.

Several months after internment the body is exhumed and the skull removed oiled, polished, and offered tobacco and food.  After the remainder of the body is re-interred, traditional islanders keep the skull on a shelf in their home and believe the native god Nakaa welcomes the dead person’s spirit in the northern end of the islands. The widow or child of the deceased would sleep and eat beside the skull and carry it about on all occasions. After several years it would be reburied with the body or planted in their yard with the top of the skull sticking out of the ground.

I was immediately fascinated by this custom and originally planned to construct three enlarged heads as skulls which would dually serve as paying homage to this custom as well as exploring issues of fragility and political correctness. Progressively as I am in the process of exploring cultural and social themes regarding witchcraft through anthropological and gender discrimination issues I have decided to incorporate the theme of witchcraft in my project by involving symbolic elements historically and culturally attributed to witches while also dedicating the final stage to the memory of those who lost their lives due to being labeled and consequently condemned for practicing witchcraft. Those women, victims of narrow mindedness and savaging religious prejudices suffered greatly as the ultimate scapegoats of a suffocating, anachronistic and disturbed society who felt the compelling urge of blaming an individual for every misfortune occurring in their lifespan. Of course times were extremely harsh but the weak did not have to suffer as much or pay such a high price for being different. Women, physically weaker and emotionally fragile, marginalized if opposing the male authority were literally walking on eggshells during the dark years of witch hunting around the period of 1480-1700. The witch hunt was particularly widespread in the 16th-17th century, mainly due to the counter-regulatory activity of conservative Catholic circles. Other historians highlight the changes in the laws, which then allowed unhindered pursuit of everything perceived as different and other sources mention the spread of black magic and occultism books. A recent study says that the savagery was attributed to the extremely poor crops and the hard weather conditions at that time, which victimized and condemned certain number of women. Moreover, in Europe, it was generally believed that the magic act could determine the weather and seasonal phenomena. In other words the political correctness of those dark times denied the language of logic and formed a toxic environment preventing the common truth while supporting violence, ignorance and intolerance to whatever perceived as different to the norms. Women challenged their boundaries and as pushed to their limits discovered a welcoming harbor and comfort zone in the arms of witchcraft and under the label witch formed powerful liaisons which provided the shield for resisting the current. Witchcraft as a notion, is resurfacing today to assist the union of everyone different or unacceptable which is ultimately translated as superpower realistically and metaphorically. 

To continue with my creative process now, I have decided to create a good number of baby heads by using dolls and plaster gauze. In order to take a realistic mold I have chosen detail specific dolls and managed to produce around 30 hollow heads which I rubbed with sand paper, stacked, polished and painted with acrylic paint attempting to imitate the color of bones, because every human being has the same color of bones.  I have chosen babies because they are notoriously linked to witches and witchcraft as folklore has provided charmingly dark stories regarding babies as victims since they represent innocence therefore their blood was sacred and allegedly coveted by those practicing witchcraft. Moreover babies are pure from any prejudices and racist ideologies.  I have chosen to create just the heads as the skull is also perceived as the most important body part according to the Kiribati custom mentioned earlier. I have created my heads fleshy and realistically close to actual baby heads in an attempt to ensure the validity of their reincarnation ticket. I wanted to portray them white as bones, fragile but also powerful as they embody the promise of salvation. I didn’t want to create scull because I didn’t want to make a clear association with death but with life. I wanted to approach the idea of death as a passage and something final. More like a transformation process.

Upon finishing the heads I have decided to continue in the ritualistic realm by incorporating candles, white, red, brown and black as candles are widely used in Wicca (contemporary Pagan new religious movement) and other related forms of Paganism and Neopaganism, as they are in many other religions. Consecrated candles are often used on the altar to represent the presence of God and Goddess, and in the four corners of a ritual circle to represent the presence of the four classical elements: Fire, Earth, Air and Water. Candles are burned at all ceremonies, and the lighting and extinguishing of candles often marks the opening and closing of the ritual. The color of the candles was chosen based on the meaning provided by the witches themselves.

White candles representing spiritual truth and strength, peace, purity and innocence also used for breaking of curses or meditation and household purification and Treating broken bones, relieving dental pain and increasing milk production in nursing mothers. Red candles representing sexuality, strength, physical health and vigor or blood, birth, and death, passion and fertility. Also used for protection, Healing neuralgia and exhaustion. Black candles represent evil and discord, Loss and sadness or opening up the deepest levels of the unconscious. They are as well used for absorbing and destroying negativity and provide protection against retribution. Finally brown candles are used for protecting pets and animal healing while also solving household problems or attracting money. Furthermore they are used for financial success and help in financial crises, eliminating indecision and improving powers of concentration or finding lost objects.

I have added a personal touch by also incorporating long white candles used in the cemetery as I intended to portray ceremonial elements of lamentation and solace as those type of candles are usually remain lit for several hours in tombstones while performing religious rituals and prayers for the dead. As the project is titled “In Memoriam” it felt only natural to involve aspects connected to burial customs I was exposed as a child. 

I have also decided to place my bone lookalike heads in circles as the circle is a universal symbol with extensive meaning. It represents the notions of totality, wholeness, original perfection, the Self, the infinite, eternity, timelessness, all cyclic movement, God ('God is a circle whose centre is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere' as said by Hermes Trismegistus). The circle represents the sun, as a masculine power and at the same time the soul and encircling waters which is the feminine maternal principle. "It implies an idea of movement, and symbolizes the cycle of time, the perpetual motion of everything that moves, the planets' journey around the sun (the circle of the zodiac), the great rhythm of the universe.