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ORCHID ISLAND I & II
Painting: ink on rice paper – 135x70cm
A ritual:
Every year at down
men climb the rocks down to the beach
wearing loincloths, silver hats and breastplates...
...One has brought a chicken,
the others gather around him...
...Facing the ocean,
the man waves the chicken in the air,
tracing a circle, like the sun coming out...
...Then he slits the chicken's throat.
The blood fills a bowl on the stones
where they each dip a finger...
...And go look along the water for a wet stone
where to leave an imprint.
They sing in unison
prayers for the return of the flying fish,
while standing along the shoreline
they offer to the fish as a lure painted red."
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