Party of the Mystics

“Party of the Mystics” is a series of votive objects and celebratory paraphernalia symbolizing human continuity and the need for communal rituals. The stylized hanging pieces evoke ancient ceremonies and festivities centered around natural and cosmic deities, with a link to the more personal and casual parties of modern days where plastic and disposable objects play the role of objects of communion. Visual and symbolic references are borrowed from ancient mythologies from around the world, and pagan, Christian and Jewish holidays. While alluding to personal references, the works invite the viewer to create new meanings as a way of connecting with the elements associated with each of them. The pieces are made of stoneware glazed in primary colors and decorated with beadwork and other tokens made of repurposed plastic party supplies either painted or gilded in 24k gold. Each of the hanging amulets represents a distinct element loosely connected with a month of the year as a way to emphasize the cyclical nature of the rituals as rhythmic markers of daily life: January: gate/passage/beginning, February: mask/psyche, March: seed/earth, April: tree/growth, May: bull/animals, June: Moon and Sun/Summer soulstice, July: storm/weather, August: ocean/water, September: plants/healing, October: fire/wealth, November: ancestors/family/feminine lineage, December: cosmos/planets/time.