During a two-week artist-in-residence program in Messejana, Portugal, I created a mixed-media installation inspired by local folk customs and the natural environment. Through cyanotype, illustration, eco-print, film, and a makeshift altar, I explored the magical elements of my surroundings. 

The focal point was a stop-motion animated short, Magia de Terra, which explores the specificity of place by revering the magical herbs, folk customs, animals, and other elements found throughout this area of the world. Set to a re-recorded rendition of the Portuguese folk song "Senhora do Almortão," sound is used to nod at the historical inter-relationship (and tensions) between Christian and pagan practices. The percussive noises are made with sticks, stones, and bones found in the Alentejo countryside. 

Using little vignettes that hint at the artist's brief, ephemeral experience researching the folk traditions and magical correspondences of Portugal and the Iberian Peninsula, this project highlights the power that resonates from organic materials as well as how this power is shaped by particular locations and cultures.