#measuringhistories

230 Hersey kisses for every mile I am away from my home town and my loved ones.

As Halloween draws near, three pumpkin seeds for the three years since my dad passed away that I have spent his favorite season without him. 

my piece is entitled “1.35 million glasses of beer on the wall”

this piece, inspired by textile artist Sonya Clark, is a way of measuring my people’s history.

It is a common joke among Irish folks (and everyone else) that we’re big drinkers. Unfortunately, this comedy is steeped in truth, as 1.35 million Irish folks between the ages of 18 and 75 are harmful alcohol drinkers. That’s 54% of 18-75 year olds.

As I am studying historical trauma in class, and see the ways in which historical trauma manifests itself, one of the most common symptoms is addiction. It it my theory that Irish folks are such heavy drinkers based on the generational trauma that Irish people have faced, as an indigenous people that was ruled by the British for so long.

Something that I cannot fathom is how oppressed the Irish were, and even harder for me to imagine is the manifestations of that that present themselves today.

Whether or not my hypothesis is correct, 1.35 million Irish people are harmful drinkers. In order to “measure” this, I created a tapestry. I used clothe popularly used for needle point, as I have seen so many people in my culture do. I have stained it with green, the color of the Irish. I have outlined a mug with a line from a popular drinking song, that I associate strongly with Irish pride, the Flogging Molly (and bunches of other artists) song Irish Drinking Song. (We’ll drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and fight, yeah!)

Litema, pronounced 'Di-te-ma

A form of Sesotho mural art composed of decorative geometric patterns, commonly associated with the Sesotho tradition practised in Lesotho and the Free State region of South Africa. Litema are generated on the outer walls of mud houses specifically by Basotho women using their fingers or objects that have teeth in them to engrave, paint, relief mould or create mosaics. These patterns are scratched into a cocktail of fresh clay and dung plaster, preferably while wet. Modern designers incorporate dyes into their creations although this is not typically the case in many places.

Litema resemble objects from the natural world such as ploughed fields, plants or animals because of their cultural meanings related to fertility, cultivation. Some designers take it as far as drawing clan totems (a sacred object or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people) as a way of showing respect for the ancestors. Litema are not permanent, they decay in the sun or may be washed away by a heavy rain. It is common for women of an entire village to apply litema on special occasions such as a wedding or a religious ceremony. The tradition of Litema is such an integral part of our culture that our heritage blankets are made unique by the fact that they feature these special designs.

 My own tradition involves the burning of incense. It is my way of calming my senses and in a way sitting in communion with my ancestors. I especially enjoy watching the stick burn because in my eyes the ashes create beautiful patterns that could pass for art. I often picture the ash and how it falls off onto the incense tray as my own version of Litema for a number of reasons: fire speaks to me because it is my element. Ash is a reminder that things never really die because life is energy and energy is neither created nor destroyed. Not only does the burning of incense engage my senses, it also relieves me of tensions and stress by helping me to cultivate positive energy, all the while we are led to believe that burning things is always bad. More personally, my maternal grandmother was the one who introduced me to incense as a child, and every time I burn it, I literally feel her presence and her memory is nothing short of fresh and alive.