Kathryn Maguire—Material Acts

Maguire’s work examines the ritual and magical possibilities of minerals as deeply embedded alternatives to the comparatively recent regard for minerals as purely extractable commodity.

Red stain oozes out of the cave walls and dries. This substance, Ochre, a ferrous rock, when ground into a powder and mixed with water, saliva, or urine, creates an impressive substance for use on the body or other surfaces. The relationship with minerals began possibly 300,000 years ago. Some of the ochres shimmered as mica or pyrite may have been present. People travelled far and wide, trading the potent minerals for ritual, magic, and storytelling purposes.

Readers are advised to check with the venue before relying on the details published here.