Isabella Dagnino

This series reflects on the importance of my cultural roots and the shared strength of the matriarchs who raised my cousins and I. The sharing of traditional knowledge around food, story and language was a catalysts for this project along with the woven in concepts of kinship and sisterhood.
Piwkeyeyu Lamgen is Mapundungun for “I love you my sister”. I named it this as it is a way to honour my kin but to also create a connection to the teaching of Las Tres Hermanas or Three Sisters. Corn, Beans and Squash are staples in the Mapuche diet and need each other to grow strong. This teaching can be found in other Indigenous Nations; Nation to Nation the stories connected to the Three Sisters change. I incorporate our teachings of the Three Sisters as a way to mirror the strength and bond of sisterhood with my cousins by also the strength we forge as we exist in-between worlds. We are all mixed and have been raised away from our traditional territory. In many ways this project is a testament to the strength rooted in who we are and resilience of our family.