Sympathetic Spells

The installation, Sympathetic Spells centered around a series of glass
lachrymatories. The term comes from the Latin lacrima (tear) and the
suffix -atory, meaning “pertaining to.” They refer to small vessels often
found in Roman and late Greek tombs, thought to have been bottles into
which mourners dropped their tears. Emotional tears carry the highest
concentration of proteins of any kind, making them heavier, stickier,
and slower to fall.

The installation is envisioned as a chamber for grief and spells. It calls
upon our ability to cry, framing tears as vessels that hold the weight of
grief for vanishing species and fractured ecologies. These contemporary
lachrymatories serve as symbolic gestures—holders for tears that activate
not only the calming functions of our parasympathetic nervous system but
also its wandering potential, inviting spells of deep connection, acts of
care, and listening.