Spirits of the Flowers Keep Watch: My Jeanne Baret Dubernat
Floral Interpretation of
How to Slip out of your Body Quietly
Firelei Báez
2018
gouache on paper
70 x 118 in.
Notes:
the folkloric, mythical "ciguapa" is a recurring motif in Baez's work. Originating from the Caribbean, the ciguapa is a female trickster. "There are two constants about her. One is that her feet are backwards," Báez explains: "And that she has a long, lustrous mane of hair." Although there was often a negative connotation to the ciguapa, Báez also saw certain freedom in her, as the ciguapa is almost traceless: "If you follow her footsteps, you are going in the wrong direction," she says and asks: "What are the risks and what are the gains of belonging or not belonging?"
“I think if I just gave violence, it’s very easy to just look away,” she says. “That is our biggest power at the moment. Who do we give our attention to?” she asks and continues: “I’m fully capable of making a juicy, beautiful painting that is just all pleasure. And that’s good. But that only sustains for a short period of time. I’m interested in giving something that is generous enough to make it linger in your mind afterwards.”
Louisiana Museum of Art