ofrendas: ritual observed in Mexico of making offerings to the dead
Amigo, cuando me muera
My friend, when I die
haz un tazón de mi barro.
make a cup from my clay.
Y cuando te acuerdas de mí, bebe de él.
And when you remember me, drink from it.
Si tus labios se pegan al tazón, será mi beso terreno.
If you lips cling to the cup, it will be my earthly kiss.
~Anonimo
My work has long been focused on ecological concerns, especially concern for nonhuman animals. It seems self-evident that environmentalism and social justice must include the other animals who share our planet. This series is my offering to the many animals left for dead on the roads where I travel, often near the lake where I walk every day. Mostly, they are killed by cars but also by hunters, fishermen, and sometimes out of sheer cruelty. Their deaths are unnatural and violent. I’ve always felt it was deeply wrong to leave their bodies on the road for further violence. For a long time all I could think to do was to photograph them and whenever possible move them off the road. Ofrendas is my way of memorializing these innocent animals in a lovelier context. The works are small and quiet and uninvasive. They are made with materials that are ecologically as harmless as possible: pigment prints of the animals I photograph on rag paper embellished mostly with water-based pigments, free of animal products.