Within nearly every show or ritual performance, I have installed at the entrance to these public spaces, altars to my late mother. Installed in gallery spaces and before group ritual spaces, these altars ground and re-contextualize public space with the intimacy of private mourning.
In gallery spaces, the re-contextualization highlights the deeply intimate nature of my work, alerting viewers to the voyeurism they participate in.
In group ritual, the altar grounds the space. As host, I lay out my mourning at the entrance and offer for other to join me, contribute their grief to what becomes a shared altar.