About the project
“From domestic chores to caring for loved ones, worldwide, people spend 16 billion hours on unpaid care work daily. The backbone of thriving families, communities, and economies, this work largely falls on women—and increases in times of crisis.”
— U.N. Women
The Nature/Nurture project creates a ritual that will make visible the actions of nurturing a society by creating a physical representation of the hands-on, labor-intensive work of women. Primarily female-born individuals will be invited to take a moment to contemplate their nourishing contribution towards their community. Feeling present within the emotions of carrying and giving, they will take a handful of clay and then firmly close their hand as a gesture to embrace their creative power and strength for looking after themselves and others. As a result, the clay, which also represents our connection with Mother Earth, is shaped into a caracola: a shell shape. In ancient times, shells were used as a means of payment, a medium of exchange, and regarded as a symbol of wealth and power. A woman’s contribution to society has value in the same way.
In the course of this project, 260 caracolas will be produced to form the units of the cycle of the Tzolkin Calendar, also known as the sacred calendar, the oldest known calendar cycle in Mesoamerica. The collection of caracolas is a representation of time and a portal to the subtle world of everyday actions we perform to support our community.
Making Caracolas
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The Tzolkin Calendar
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Project Installation
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