Waters Cannot Wash (Pt. 1)
Date: 2025
Medium: cotton sail fragment, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, mace, vanilla, black pepper, allspice, sugar, cayenne pepper, turmeric, tea (green), coffee, cardamom, cocoa, ginger, water from the Atlantic Ocean, rope
Dimensions: Varies
I had a strip of sail fabric — sourced from a master sailmaker specializing in 18th and 19th-century ship replicas — sewn into a large pocket and filled it with fourteen spices, each carrying complex histories of colonial conquest, slavery, and genocide, and each also used for chronic pain relief, wound care, and protection rituals. Then I took it into the Atlantic. It soaked up seawater fast and began staining almost immediately. Back in the studio, still dripping a rich, dark liquid that smelled of ocean water and spices, I started a ritual — collecting whatever seeped out and pouring it back into the pocket, over and over, until the water finally evaporated about thirty days later.
(Photo credit: Gregory Vershbow)
