Treasures

‘TREASURES’ SHOWN BY SPILT MILK GALLERY EDINBURGH AS PART OF THEIR Exhibition ‘Cartography of Care’: October 8th-29th 2022.

‘Treasures’ is a personal work through which I found my grounding and compass to navigate into future motherhood and self.

Surfacing at a time where the intensity of seven years of mothering young children is lessening and my self and my children’s autonomy is rising, ‘Treasures’ is an emotional mapping of a musical death, the universal heart break of witnessing the cycles of life and finding solace and hope in the ability to let go. This is my first work where multiple creative streams have flowed together through words, music, illustration and moving image. The layers of creativity are the narrative structure which speak a story. A story about the relationship between mother and child, and our relationship with the natural world. It is a map, a compass for the future. One which offers hope.

Words, music, illustration and moving image by Lillias Kinsman-Chauvet. Spoken word and flute preformed by Lillias Kinsman-Chauvet. Vocals performed by Katherine Cox, Lindsay Finnie and Emily Munro. Audio recorded and mixed by Joel Cox.

With thanks to my son for his ‘treasures’.

Treasures

The sea is full of white bones
I blow air from my lungs into your cardboard sails
Elephants rise up from the deep
legs like thick tree trunks growing from the sea.

And hear I stand at the threshold and watch
as you sail into the pages of that story
that song
that rhyme
The one about the owl and the pussycat
and their gold and honey.

But your treasure is not money
It is the stone found in the armpit of a rock
The shell dropped out of place by the seagull
cradled in a nest of grass
The pigeon feather that spirals with grace
down from the sky
The stick, the one with the crooked bend in it
bark worn smooth
The broken birds egg, white shell upturned
a witches boat
perhaps.

And here where land meets sea
my chest is unlocked through knowing
That these are the precious gifts
that you have built your chest for
That will sail with you on
your cardboard ship
Into your one wild and treasured life.