Faculty of Art

Drawing and Painting

Olivia Aguiar

At these special occasions I think life is worth living

In her chapter "Tentacular Thinking" from "Staying with the Trouble," Donna Haraway conceptualizes earthly existence as multiply connected, positing that our dependence on relationships is often more apparent during times of loss (38-39). For Haraway, to mourn is to hold open space for another. Through car rides and Christmas dinners, I carved in stone a person who I believed my grandfather to be; a social worker, a Marxist, an opera singer, a poet, and gentle. The pages of his journal lay bare a different narrative, a branchpoint for familial trauma, a man filled with loneliness, regret and anger. Practicing reciprocity and understanding through Haraway, I realize I am inextricably entangled with my grandfather, and I chose to hold open space. My grandfather can be good and bad; he can be here and gone.

“'I am writing these impressions two days after Luis Carlos' wedding to Suzanne Johnson, now officially man and wife. This wedding day was a very happy event in my otherwise uneventful life. What a memorable day it was. I will treasure this day and Luisa's wedding day and Pedro's until the rest of my days. At these special occasions, I think life is worth living,' ( 'April 25 1998' Luís Aguiar April 25 1998).”