After some years of not touching the harsh sand, the strong rocks and the prickly plants my memories start to feel vague. Memories that exist since my birth. I have grown up in this land, the land of Baja California. A land I always yearn for. How can I refresh my memory of the nature that makes me feel myself, a self connected to everything else?
Salvia Blanca is a performative installation art work for which I designed a garment vest that I wore in and around my family’s ranch to collect seeds. The seeds from Tecate are usually thorny, they grab onto textile, hair, fur and sometimes skin, so they can have a means of transportation. I brought these seeds and parts of plants with me, so I can inhale their breath as often as I need to wake up those memories. To make them alive again and not just an archive in my mind.
The vest is accompanied by a video in which I visually document the landscape. Having something to watch when I feel home sick.
I decided to use local Serbian cookie boxes that friends had brought to the gallery while we were installing. The cookie boxes immediately sparked a conversation of childhood memories, triggers that allow us to time travel to cherished moments of the past.