indistinct hand gestures: meh

Find me under @morphella

Find me under @morphella

Find me under @morphella

But y'all, she fucked up. She had kittens in my garage last May. She was at my mercy.

I fed her meat and water while she recovered and nursed. I gently held her babies. She didn't like it, but as I said, she fucked up, because she was too weak from the birth to protest. The weeks passed. Her kittens were fully socialized and grew to be healthy and fluffy little things. Felicia was now comfortable with my presence, probably because I had not yet eaten her babies or anything like that, but touches were a big NO! That was okay by me though. I figured I would just have her spayed and we could remain civil neighbors.

But then she let me pet her.

A few weeks later she started purring and demanding rubs.

And today she let me hold her.

She has been trying to recreate the Peacock dress, designed by Worth and worn by Mary Curzon in 1903. It's a 10 pound chiffon dress of woven silver and gold thread.

Frankly, the embroidery is far more beautiful than its design.

But she's found it difficult to recreate, to say the least. The embroidery was done in colonised India, when The British Empire controlled and took credit for everything. And let me tell you, some of these Indian ateliers had a lot of people working on a single piece, because the designs are so intricate and elaborate.

And so, recently she's been more outspoken of the fact that British colonisation really enables these wealthy western Europeans to wear gowns that almost look impossibly beautiful, but rightful credit was of course never given to the people who made it. Cathy started talking about this during the height of media coverage of the ongoing Black Lives Matter protest. She said she was reflecting on her position in the world and the lens through which she saw the Peacock dress.

So Cathy Hay has been researching it's history. And she eventually found out the name of the man who owned the work shop that made it. Kishan Shand from Delhi. It was a firm owned by Manick Chand. And more importantly, she found a sketch of the men that worked there, around the period the embroidery probably would have been done. It was most likely those very same men.

And I just felt this lump in my throat. I always wonder about the craftsmen behind so much of history's most beautiful art. They're never named because the one who commissions the work, the patron, is usually given all the undue credit. We still don't know the individual names, but we have a sketch of their faces.

Ok so maybe you already know but I rewatched FMAB this year, and once more I realized that it is and it will always be one of my favorite shows of all time. And I can’t begin to explain how much Arakawa’s creation means to me. Like I really can’t, but I’ll try

It’s filled by amazing, diverse and complex and lovable characters, and I love each one of them (yes Kimblee, you too); it has an excelent and well-carried plot, it made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me feel intrigued and all sort of things. But in the end, the thing that clicked for me was its core message, one that speaks about connection. The people we meet along the way and the true reason of our existence on this world, the things that really matter

I think that when Ed and Al burned their house, that October the 3rd, they were beginning a journey that, ironically, would lead them back to where they started: home, family, friends. Connection. 

Like Josh Ritter says in one of my favorite songs: “Only a full house’s gonna make a home“

I think of that song and that line in particular when I think of FMA

I tried to portrait that connection in this piece, I hope that gets through~

Happy October 3rd, everyone 😊💖

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