Roots.

Here is another tiny piece of my past for you. In this picture you can see my hair and I in my studio in Havana. These group of small photos that I arranged together as a montage were taken in 1998 by a young photographer friend of mine. He used black and white film and he developed them with his own hands. I am so glad that I found them so you can see more or less how my world looked like back then. By this time my career was starting to take off and I had a more solid connection with some galleries in Havana and out of Cuba so I worked in my art day and night, that's all I did.

I adored this studio (which was one of the two bedrooms that I had in my apartment) and as dark as it looks I always kept it clean and organized. I look at all the objects in it and I see so much; every single thing in that room has some story behind. The dress that I am wearing for example was made by myself out of some old cotton sheet. The chair where I am sitting on and the one in front of me were part of a set of six that I bought from a lady who lived close by and they were kind of dynamic because the joints were ready to fall apart. The head behind me is a wooden sculpture that I bought from some man on the street. Now between the two tables and close to the wooden head you can see the biggest luxury that I ever had in Cuba: AN AIR CONDITIONING MACHINE!!! It made a funny noise which is impossible to see in the picture as well as the noise from my neighbor’s apartment who had hundreds of birds (the ones that sing all day long) on top of that add some radio playing Cuban Music and now the picture is complete! I also had a wonderful balcony with lots of plants that I watered every morning. And I loved my neighbors! One of my favorite ones was this old actress who was a celebrity in Cuba before the revolution. Her apartment was full of black and white photographs from when she was famous, she was really beautiful. And there was also her very old husband who was always flirting with the young ladies in the building. He was so funny!

What I am making with my hands in this picture is an installation called: Impermanent. The piece was basically a group one hundred black dolls that had roots instead of heads and they were displayed on the wall upside down like little trees. Down here you can see a drawing based on that installation. With these dolls-trees I was talking about how memories (like plants) grow roots in our minds that keep us alive and make us be what we are. Now many years later I am even more sure about this idea. I realize that I am an accumulations of memories and without them I don’t fully exist. I was reading about amnesia the other day and about how people suffering from this condition struggle trying to make sense of who they are. I am lucky that I have a good memory and that I can remember all the details from my past. I wil never take my memory for granted, that's why I try to make use of it as often as possible.

Comments

[lauren]

what an amazing photograph to share.
I find what you say to be very powerful: I'm often frustrated by details I can not remember and I think it all comes down, in myself anyway, to just how aware I am in any given moment. I believe awareness & gratefulness are key.
Thank you for sharing this today and reminding me of that.

[sosser]

thank you so much for the stories and view into your world. old photos are magical in their ability to refresh our memories. especially as we grow holes in there with age. i have wanted to travel to cuba for years and now i feel as if i've taken a little trip and seen a slice of it!

[Christina Conway]

this is so beautiful, thank you for sharing. Your words from Tuesday were very magical and timely, your blog means so very much to me. Thank you Elsita.

[julie at anothershadeofgrey]

I love the drawing and the story makes it all the better. :)

[Nichol]

Amazing! I love the flitty feathers floating around your studio. And, the way you told the story made me almost hear the air conditioner noises and singing birds.

[Nyx]

Stunning work! They really do look like plants sitting on your floor like that :D

[Elli]

Thank you for sharing the picture and memories. I just discovered your blog, and I really have enjoyed leafing it throug. What a happines of life! I'm coming back.

[Margaret Oomen]

That photograph was amazing. You look so beautiful with your hair like that and working on those wonderful root dolls. Your amazing strength comes from all these experiences and memories stored in your neurons. I think about memory every day since I work a lot with people suffering from Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. When all else is forgotten the memories they hold on to the longest are what they were doing just before adolescence. What they were reading, people they new, how their parents and families appeared to them and especially what music they listened to. I often share this with parents of preadolescents because the general feeling is its just a phase or they will grow out of it but if they pollute their minds with garbage at that age that might be all they will remember when they are very old . It is more important to fill their memory banks with goodness at that age than any other.

[Miss Dot]

thank you for sharing that with us. My parents were in Cuba during the misile crisis on a British ship carrying fuel from Russia! they had no idea what was brewing. When they got there they found the item they were asked for the most was sewing needles, my mum gave away all she had except for one for emergencies under she got to the next port. They had a wonderful time, even if it was a bad time to be there. You would only have been young or not even born then?

[amy]

Elsita ,this is such a cool picture. You look so sweet there working away on your project. Love your thick curly hair, we have this in common, the hair.

[Lori]

I love the dolls and the memories, do you still have them, do you have photos of the installation? Thanks for the sounds behind the picture

I also share your wild curly, black hair

Lori

[Autumn]

Thank you again for this gift of yourself...reading your blog is one of the high points of my day, thank you!