Archival ink on watercolor paper (5x7” image on 8.5”x11”)

print comes with printed instructions for the following home ritual:

ritual for the dawn of civilization and/or tender elevation

Internet legend has anthropologist Margaret Mead locating the advent of human civilization not in the early evidence of architecture, but in a femur bone with a healed fracture—an indication that this ancient person was not abandoned when struggling with an injury; another ancient person took care of them. While attribution of this definition of civilization to Mead is questionable, its premise remains profound: Civilized behavior starts compassionately—with healing the broken amongst us. Our contemporary minds and hearts recognize the evolving truth in this as we tend to sick family members, make meals for bedridden friends, and visit colleagues in the hospital. But what if—for whatever reason—we can’t reach the person (or the part of them) that is struggling?

this ritual is for taking care of a person (including ourselves, or someone gone)
who is broken in a way that we can’t help to heal with a cast or a casserole.