Julie Gladstone

We Are Here Now

A series of digital photographs of performative gestures/ self portraits featuring ritual textiles and inherited textiles from my matrilineal line from the Sephardic Diaspora in relationship with various sites and waterways in T'Karanto.

“I am the ambassador, draping embroidered tablecloths and shawls that you made by hand over one side of my body. On the other side is the land and the water. Though we come from a history of wandering and exile, Iet us come into relationship and conversation with this land here, where I was born and where my daughter was born. This series of gestures and photos uses the idea of Tikkun Olam (healing and repair) embodiment acheived by stiching together two pieces to create something whole. The textile sitched together with the land. A sacred ceremonial carrying case, a type of tabernacle, stitching together textile with land.  My body becomes the talisman,  contained within this ceremonial joining. We live here now.”