As a teacher of Ancestral Healing work I am well aware that, long with countless human ancestors, we human beings also have non-human ancestors. There is such a thing as a Bacterial Ancestor or Viral Ancestor! One virus brought our world to her knees in 2020 and 2021 started with a third national Lockdown here in the UK. I am typing these words in our inner city London house to a soundtrack of sirens and emergency services riding out. This raw (and brand new) series of paintings explores who this Furious Grandma is (or might be) and what she is asking from us... And also how She is related to the Crone/Elder/Furious Grandma I myself aspire to be, one day!
FURIOUS GRANDMA GOES VIRAL!
A series of 2021 paintings by Imelda Almqvist
MY CROW'S FEET (60 x 42 cm) 2020 £350
During Pandemic Year 2020 and while in Lockdown I decided to start connecting with my Crone or Elder Self through art. I am determined to see the beauty of my body and face, and the bodies and faces of others. I will not quietly surrender to invisibility and redundancy! I'd father be a furious grandma, a formidable force for change! Here is a very short video about the making of this painting:
THE VöLVA (SOLD)
“Völva” was the official title for a woman who practiced Seiðr professionally, on behalf of her community. The word literally means staff-bearer. However, her staff was (most likely) a distaff (and tool used in spinning, which instantly connects her to the Norns), not a walking stick! The Old Norse word völ means “wand” or “staff”. I invite you to meet the Völva! Check out a recent webinar dedicated to her:
Meet The Völva! Seidr Class #2
GRIEF TENDER #1 (SOLD)
Our elders have lived, loved and lost. Western Culture allows no time for grief. It does not teach people about grief rituals or about the importance of witnessing/supporting grief in others. Old people are large invisible, in our culture, "past their sell-by date".
As I myself grow older (I am going to be 54 next week!) the matter of Elders becomes an ever more pressing concern: being an Elder, supporting others on the way to Elderhood, making sure that young people have access to Elders, inviting older people to actively step into the role of Elder...
GRIEF TENDER #2: " I CARVE MY GRIEF AS PETROGLYPHS IN THE CAVE OF THE MOUNTAIN MOTHER"
The grief journey is one we are always making. Smaller losses and incomprehensible losses. Soul-shattering losses that make us question who we even are, all by ourselves. When something, or someone, that supported us, drops away and the Void Space yawns. But, as we fall, we find ourselves in the company of Falling Stars and Fallen Angels....
BEAR ME (NOT FOR SALE)
SELKIE SOUL (60 x 42 cm) £385
THE HOUSE OF THE ANCESTORS (60 x 42 cm) £325
Our ancestors lived through pandemics, wars, crop failures and poor (or non-existent) medical care. They are an immense source of support right now - if only we open the door (between the worlds) a crack! When did you last connect with your ancestors? When did you last honor them, mention them by name, tell them the family news?
This painting was inspired by tribal or indigenous peoples who have special buildings where they keep the skulls (and or bones) of their ancestors.
GOING WITH THE FLOE (SOLD)
This painting is the companion of the one on the left: Elders are closer to our children. They often see the magic in things. They have the time to stop and smell a flower, or discuss the shape of a cloud, with a child. They have lived long enough to know that history repeats itself (unless we learn) and that political correctness is a predatorial animal, frequently changing its spots. Furious grandma's (and grandpa's!) see the larger picture.
DREAMING WITH THE DEEP ANCESTORS (60 x 42 cm) £325
ANCESTRAL LINEAGE DREAMING (60 x 42 cm) £435
UNDER WATER VIOLINIST
Sonia Slany, a very gifted musician, whom I held very dear, and who made wonderful contributions to sacred art retreats I facilitated, died recently (of breast cancer). This brought my first experience of attending an on-line funeral during Lockdown. I recently had a powerful dream where she was playing her violin under water and many aquatic animals were attending the concert. It was a beautiful and uplifting dream.... a reassuring dream. It was such a privilege to hear her play again...
It has also made me reflect on how powerful and compassionate groups can energetically create temples of healing, with noticeable real life (physically noticeable) results. This is something I feel called to explore further in the future: founding Healing Temples staffed by Elders with Healing Hands and Voices. Those modern priestesses (and priests are welcome too!) could 'actively keep the flame of healing burning' for people having treatment (say chemo), for people needing to be held at a time of deep grief, parents who have lost a child - and so forth.
WHERE SNOW DROPS MARK THE END OF HIBERNATION
My Swedish husband and I never agree on when Spring actually starts. For him Spring starts on March 1st and Summer starts on June 1st! However, for me, as a Spring Equinox baby, Spring starts on either March 20th or 21st (I always go with the astronomical equinoxes and solstices, not the calendar ones) and Summer starts on the Summer Solstice, best celebrated on Uppsa Kulle grave mound in Sweden, if I have freedom of location!
Here in the UK the day of completing this painting is also the Day where the prime minister will unveil "a cautious roadmap out of Lockdown". I will use those projections, and the dates of projected vaccinations, to have a serious look at the 'teaching in person situation' and make some decisions.
However, I feel best when I live on Mythical Time in a Poetic Universe, so for me it is the Time of Snow Drops just now....
WHEN WE GROW OLD (60 x 42 cm) £345
MY TENT ON THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (60 x 42 cm) £355