📜 Caption :
Return me to the earth
A body, a soul, a life, a love
Grow me from the earth
Ancestral lands
Spiritual rains
Familiar air
Creative heat
Born tomorrow
Buried today
In the past
We came from the earth
🪞 Reflection:
On January of 2021 my aunt’s body was returned to El Salvador, the place of her birth. Transporting her from the United States to El Salvador was no easy task, there were several barriers that my family had to overcome.
There was the legality surrounding the transportation of the deceased during COVID-19. It’s been some time so I don’t remember all the details but there was still uncertainty on whether a dead body can carry or transmit the virus; There was an imposed wait time in order to move bodies. The other legal issue my family dealt with was communication between the two countries, making sure all parties had the same information.
We also dealt with the financial barrier. I’m not certain on the amount we needed but several of us were unemployed due to the pandemic, it was not our turn to be vaccinated and not many groups were in the position to hire. We turned to social media to crowd source the funds.
“Tia Blanca was a kind woman who came from El Salvador to the US in the 90s’s for better opportunities. At the time she had recently given birth, temporarily leaving her child behind in order to make it safely to the US.
Once she arrived, Tia Blanca worked tirelessly in order to provide for her children here in the US and to her extended family back home in Agua Fria.
This generous nature of hers extended so wide that Tia Blanca often opened her home to anyone who needed shelter…”
The final barrier we dealt with was the Salvadorean government. There was such severe miscommunication on their part that our family grew frustrated with confusion, the event was pretty traumatic. First, we were told that everyone could witness the burial, then we were told that only 5 people can go in. When the coroners came in to do their duty they came accompanied by militarized police, it seemed unnecessary to use such a show of force against the humble people of Agua Fria. In the end only the immediate family were allowed in, my aunt’s sisters were in despair, wailing and pleading with the police to let them in but their pleas meant nothing to them.
Despite the barriers, my aunt was granted her final wish. We shed our tears; we said our goodbyes. The image I drew above was my interpretation of what her passing on to the afterlife might look like. Born from the earth, returned to the earth. 2021 was the first time I visited El Salvador and I am honored to have witnessed all that I did. I leave this image with a final prayer to all who have lost a loved one during those turbulent years:
We are born at the mercy of others
To be loved and feel pain
Together we become one
Learning how to teach
The beauty of life and death
We are born at the mercy of others
Honoring their memories
Sing Dance Play
Cry Run Fight
Blessings hide Curses
Curses bring Blessings
We are born at the mercy of others
We learn to love for all that we feel
🖼️ Availability:
Digital image only, NFT pending, Print pending
🪞 Reflection:
🏷️ Tags:
#originalart #digitalart #ghost_of_color
#el-salvador #family #death #covid-19
©️ Copyright : Ghost of Color / Labrynia Alamonde / Fairy Boy / Ghostie Ghost / Arcelio C.
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