Conducted with Reverend Priestess Anna Marie Martin, the ritual was loosely based on Demeter’s march to Eleutheria performed in Athens after the second week in March as described by ancient historians. In this festival, Demeter is depicted by the priestess re-enacting Demeter's search for her daughter, “Persephone” or Kore, who she will meet soon. The text is loosely based on the Ancient writings of the first poet in human history Enheduanna, the Sumerian priestess of the Goddess Inanna. Inanna and Persephone both were Goddesses with pre-Christian resurrection stories evoked in the spring as Goddesses of life, death and transformation.
Videography by Lupe Melendez, 2023
INTO HER, was dedicated to the memory of Sabina Ott. Participants were assigned a color. Each verse of the poem was color coded and each reader read their verse, when directed by the artist. The poem, Into Her is inspired by the epic poetry of Enheduanna in honor of the Sumerian Goddess Inanna and the work of Gertrude Stein. At the conclusion of the reading, each participant was handed a folded Moravian eight-pointed paper rosette in their color.
Into Her excerpt
A rose is a rose, my lady you are a flower.
A rose is a rose, my lady you have the power.
I’m into her, are you into me
she is the great me.
Anodos, a performance by Mary Anna Pomonis was performed in honor of the ascent from the underworld of the goddess Persephone also known as Inanna. The Inanna story is the most ancient resurrection story recorded in written history by the poetess, Enheduanna. Pomonis dug a megara crypt and buried wheat paste sculptures of snakes and pigs in a ritual performance recitation. Playing off the words from the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, Pomonis repeated phrases from ancient poetry mixed with Clinton’s campaign slogan, With Her, asking the audience the question,” I am with her, are you with me? She is the great me.”
The movement piece incorporated different repetitive actions connoting service, abundance, the divine and the ambiguity of cultural identity. Immigrants move and bring with them their food, religion and art which so often become acculturated even before a wider acceptance of their identity is acknowledged by American culture. In this way immigrants offer the gifts of their cultural identity to America and allow themselves to be eaten, worshipped and gazed upon in a transaction of mutual desire.
The Pomona Tarantella, is based on mediterranean Tarantella music, the title is a reference to abundance implied by the goddess Pomona. Chinatown in Los Angeles was, one hundred years ago, home to a large Italian community whose presence hovers over the area in an occasional painted sign. The piece was designed to specifically interact with the site of Chinatown from a personal perspective as a person of Mediterranean descent.
As an homage to the pagan theme of Walpurgisnacht, Pomonis created an elemental ritual using red sand and river rocks. On a square sheet, she first laid out some rocks in the shape of two opposing arrows, referencing the symbol for the Roman goddess Discordia. After pouring the sand over these rocks, she slowly re-arranged them into the shape of a diamond, recalling the symbol for the opposite goddess, Harmonia. The diamond also referenced the ancient Masonic symbol and Pomonis’ own ongoing interest in the properties of gemstones. A diamond painting—inspired by the famous Mouawad Magic Diamond, whose flawless emerald cut contains two opposing triangles—hung on the wall nearby, acting as an additional focal point. The shape of the opposing arrows remained on the sheet as a ghostly imprint.- Text and Photography by Carol Cheh