My Mother’s Decree... originated from a dream recorded in my journal. A conversation with my mother about pre-colonial spiritual histories revealed my great-grandmother as a healer. The pointing gesture she made in describing my great grandmother triggered the memory I had of the dream.
The synchronistic chain of events lead to realising the work—a paying attention to dreamscape informing creation.
The resting horse symbolizes libido, instinctual energy—the energy to go through with the journey remains dormant/latent and the mother figure orients the heroine's vision to life, to new beginnings.
The title is quoted from an ancient injunction. The forked tail of the kite, a bird of prey, is used as inspiration by specialist blacksmiths to create the Ogene, a musical instrument often used in music and dance during rituals. Within the Igbo philosophical worldview, the musical instrument is also the symbol of life; namely the dualistic nature of existence.
The dream can be read as both a warning and a decree from the archetypal mother; a call for the heroine to attune her visual faculties to spaces beyond the confines of the visible plane. For safe passage through the treacherous terrains ahead, she must come into rhythmic balance by fostering a relationship with both her conscious and unconscious aspect.