La Inmortalidad Del Cangrejo || The Immortality of the Crab

40 ¾” x 29” Watercolor and acrylic on paper
1993

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My grandmother Mariana stopped talking near the end of her life. She sat at the dinner table while her youngest son massaged her neck, her body already crossing over to another existence. He asked, Mami, what are you thinking about? La inmortalidad del cangrejo, she replied. It was this vision sustaining her now, the power of a crustacean associated with eternal life juxtaposed with Tata’s fading heart, a consistent dream permeating her thoughts as she idled in her final stage, resigned to fates she only imagined.