Chrysalis, The Altar, and Performance (English)
Crip Collective (Kaia Arrow, Lilah Hill, Jasmine Noseworthy Persaud, Cleopatria Peterson, terra Mitchell-Baisden, Maya Morgan, Pree Rehal, Yvonne Winter)
In a large hallway, a brightly colored fabric sculpture hangs from the
ceiling next to an altar and TV screen. Starting from our left is the
fabric sculpture, then the exhibition text titled, “Chrysalis, The
Altar, and Performance.” All text is in Anishinaabemowin, English, and
French above a black reader rail with braille. Next on the right, is an
altar with a blue cloth and small items. Hung above and slightly
overlapping the altar is a TV screen with a pair of headphones hanging
underneath the right corner.Chrysalis
Crip Collective, 2023, machine and hand-sewn textiles, fabric paint, fabric masks, materials from Amelia’s RV Nelson’s personal archive, and mixed media, 1.5 x 1.5 metersImages
Colorful strips of fabric are draped from the ceiling and
cascade down the wall. The fabrics are made out of many
materials and are predominantly shades of purple and green with
pops of orange and pink. The fabric is hung in a way that it
creates a canopy to stand under. Two long strips of sewn
together disposable blue masks and rectangle pieces of paper are
hung against the wall. Text phrases are embossed and printed in
orange reading, “It is recommended to care about disabled people
but it is not mandatory,” “Please continue to care about
disabled people,” and, “For our collective survival, caring
about people is necessary.”
Silky and sheer fabrics in rich greens, purples, oranges, and
gold shimmery fabric have been sewn together in multiple layers
and strips creating a richly textured tapestry. The surface is
embellished with delicately embroidered flowers. On a piece of
gold sparkly fabric, two hands are drawn in pen, reaching
towards each other. Three handmade green cloth masks are sewn in
a row.
Guided Tactile Descriptions
Chrysalis
This is a tactile sample of the same fabrics that are in the Chrysalis sculpture. This fabric swatch has 12 different size rectangles, sewn together in six columns. Let’s explore the sample moving from our left to right, column by column. Starting in the lower left hand corner, find the two holes in the fabric. These holes are part of the lacey pattern of this floral green strip. Just to the left of the holes you might be able to find three tiny 3-D flowers. Feel the same texture all the way up that column. When you reach the top edge, move to our right and notice the feeling of the seam as you transition between the two columns. This next column is made from two pieces of fabric. It starts with a silky, smooth, and iridescent purple fabric. Moving below that one, it might be hard to notice the change to the next fabric rectangle because they have a very similar texture. However, this one may feel a little extra slippery and is a bright sparkly pink fabric. Staying along the bottom edge, move to the next column on our right, made from two fabrics. It starts with a scratchy and rough light pink mesh fabric. Directly above that is a silky smooth gold ochre rectangle. Staying along the top edge, move to the next column on our right, which is made from three fabrics. The first is white lace, so it has some very interesting shapes and bumps. Try and find the mesh swoop nestled in between bumpy thick threads. Moving underneath that one, is a small pink silky rectangle. Underneath that one is a second soft small teal rectangle. Staying along the bottom, move to the next column on our right. It is made from two very different size pieces of fabric. The first is a long strip of thin orangey peach cotton fabric, with a medium softness. Right above that, you may be able to feel a very thin strip of silky green fabric. Staying along the top edge, move to the last column on our right. where you’ll find two fabrics. The first is a slippery thin purple fabric with a partially attached decorative flower. The center is sewn down with a rough gold thread making a small bump. The petals are detached and will flop around if you touch them. Below that is another piece of the same white lace fabric that we felt earlier. It also has thin mesh swoops and bumpy thick thread.
The Altar
Maya Morgan, Jasmine Persaud, and Yvonne Winter, 2021-2023, painting: acrylic on canvas, dried flowers, candle, bowl, hand-dyed tablecloth trimmed with crystals, 51 x 89 cmImages
A painting, dried flowers, black bowl, and candle clustered on a
blue fabric square. The painting is of an abstract night sky
with a rainbow at the bottom. Clustered together are a tall
glass vase with a bundle of dried lavender and cotton, a small
black wooden bowl with the inside painted gold, and a large
partially melted white candle. Underneath the items is a soft
blue fabric with clear crystals hanging off the edges.
An abstract painting of a flat black night sky with vertical
rainbow bars at the bottom. The bars get slightly taller as they
move from left to right creating the appearance of a small stair
case. The sky is filled with white pinpricks and a large full
moon. Small abstract spirals resembling people float around the
sky and travel up the rainbow.
Video
Description:
Small, cresting waves roll over inky black rocks. A white text box appears in the centre of the screen, representing a note-taking app. In it, a document is given the title ‘In All Directions’.
In All Directions
Description:
The text box disappears. A new text box opens, and words appear letter by letter, typed behind a moving red cursor line. Key phrases from the poem are repeated in smaller neighbouring text boxes.
like starfish
we will grow arms again
that know how to reach for others
reach for ourselves and maybe even each other
again
Description:
Three overlapping text boxes appear, creating visual echoes as letters and words are typed.
to name our hurt and our shame and our love
and our yearning
to name the ocean of ourselves and those parts
that were severed
Description:
The word severed is repeated in eight other text boxes. A new text box appears.
these parts of us that used to know each other
that may touch again
may not
Description:
“May not” is repeated in a separate translucent text box. A small text box appears at our lower right.
either way,
I hope we are held
Description:
A text box appears at the centre of the screen.
I hope these arms of ours
learn how to reach towards love
in all directions.
Description:
The text box fades away. End credits appear in a series of boxes.
A film-poem by
Jasmine Noseworthy Persaud
on Dish with One Spoon, Treaty 13 & William
Treaties territory
in response to Kai Cheng Thom’s
“Choosing Love at the End of the World: Social
Collapse, Conflict Resolution, and Queer
Resilience” keynote plenary
at CBRC’s Summit 2021
Disrupt and Reconstruct
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[waves fade]
Performance
Pree Rehal, 2023, live performance
Installation Details
Created through forced transformation, grief, and anger, Rehal and Hill constructed Chrysalis with locally sourced water-like fabrics. It was painted and adorned by Arrow, Mitchell-Baisden, Peterson, and Winter. Morgan, Noseworthy Persaud, and Winter’s The Altar is a place for grief to rest; offer a name in remembrance. Rehal’s memorialization of personal and collective loss is imparted onto Chrysalis by way of water-soluble embroidery and performance.
Brought together by Rehal, Crip Collective features eight artists with lived experience of being Disabled/Mad/Crip and Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour artists. These works are dedicated to Amelia RV Nelson, a bright, Black, queer, bubbly, chronically ill spoonie artist who passed away in 2022.
About the Artist
A grid of photos of Crip Collective members with text at the bottom
centre that reads, "Crip Collective". Row one from left to right:
Jasmine is smiling with their head resting on their hand. Jasmine is a
small fat, mixed Guyanese, genderfluid person with a nose ring. They
wear a black hat, black heart choker, and navy plaid shirt. Kaia looks
directly into the camera with a close-lipped smile. Kaia is a queer,
sick & disabled, Filipina woman with light skin, almond eyes, and a flat
nose. Yvonne is a Black person with large, round, orange plastic glasses
and matte lipstick. They’re wearing a mauve shirt, with a gray head
wrap. Cleopatria is a small fat, mixed Black non-binary trans person.
They are smiling with their eyes closed, wearing a sunhat and yellow
tunic. Row two from left to right: terra is a tall black,
gender-explorative trans person. He has his hand against his cheek as he
smiles in front of a large leafy plant, in front of a brick wall. They
are wearing a black durag and a brown, white, and burnt orange printed
button-up t-shirt. maya is a fat black femme. She sits wearing a black
dress and silver earrings with her hair out around her against a light
soft background. Pree is a small fat brown person with a short haircut,
loose curls, linework tattoos and round metal glasses. They are smiling,
looking at the camera and wearing a white sweater vest. Lilah is a white
Indigiqueer person with long brown hair and a septum piercing. They are
wearing pink eyeshadow and black lipstick with a blue butterfly clip in
their hair.