Sister Ancestor is an art exhibition and written research that honours my little sister Ancestor Kai, who transitioned to the spirit world in 2018.

Following in the footsteps of Black womxn thinkers like Audre Lorde, bell hooks, and Lillian Allen, I weave together personal stories that speak to my rage, my grief, and my love. I tell the story of being Kai’s big sister, and of my experiences with mysoginoir. Telling these stories allows me to heal and teaches me how to connect with my Ancestors in the spirit world.

This body of work includes journal entries, poems, mixed-media paintings, drawings, engravings, sculptures, installations and performances. The cowrie shell, the colour Black, rosemary, and thyme are recurring symbols that act as mediators between me and the spirit world. They form part of my ritual and prayer practice. Kai collaborates in this body of work by lending her clothes to be transformed and incorporated into these works. She has been my guide along this creative research journey. In this creative research production, autoethnographic storytelling connects undercurrents such as Caregiving, Ceremonies for Grieving, Rituals of Release, and Healing. This work becomes a personal archive that engages with the concept of Erlebnis by making a space for Kai’s voice, my voice, and those of our ancestors in artistic knowledge production.

Sister Ancestor is a deep exploration of what it means to be a Big Sister (in life and after the death of my sister) and the leadership involved in embodying and believing in that work. It asks the questions – How can I ritually embody and artistically interpret ancestral practices for honouring deceased kin? What does it mean to be a disabled Afro-Latina girl and womxn who is navigating systems of creation, along with systems of inequity and violence? Sister Ancestor leads towards shaping/re-shaping a spiritual and artistic practice rooted in both my Argentine and Jamaican cultural heritage.

• https://drive.google.com/file/d/19bwbwpL...