Maternal Mitochondria will have a piece in the show “Art & Activism” with Axle Contemporary in Santa Fe.
OPENING: in Railyard Shade Structure by Farmers Market, Santa Fe, NM July 5 5pm-7pm. Exhibition continues through August 18.
Responding to the prompt “Rage,” Maternal Mitochondria took posts and tweets from the internet which inspired a pure and visceral rage in the artists. These quotes have been rearranged and placed in the context of female personifications of death. The three incarnations aren’t exactly vengeful Furies, but are related. Visually they are threatening, and even protective. They are also a reminder about how no life is exempt from death, not even patriarchal or woman-hating dominance can supersede death. It is the great leveler of humanity. Taken in context with the text, Mictecacihuatl, Santa Muerte, and Death in Her Cart seem to express rage but also the power of nature, which is often identified as female.
From left to right: Mictecacihuatl, Aztecan Goddess of the dead, Santa Muerte in Mexico, and Death in Her Cart from New Mexico (both are considered to be depictions of Doña Sebastiana).
Art by Isabel W.S. 