Practice Softening, 2022
Materials: wool, video projection, audio, motherwort, rue, mugwort, cotton string, nazar 

Practice softening invites audience members to lay themselves down within the holy form of the mihrab, and to attune their embodiment to elemental movements of the natural world. Here the form of the mihrab becomes a portal connecting the corporeal and the divine: inviting us to sense into the flows of moving water, to breathe with the rhythm of wind through trees–as a practice that can change the texture and shape of our embodied experiences. Drawing on Anatolian carpet symbolism, the protection of nazars, alongside the flows of water and the groundedness of mountains is woven into the site for rest. Further supported by hanging medicinal plants for energetic cleansing, protection, moving rage, and dream-work, the installation opens a portal for audience members to engage in softening as a practice.