Yvette Molina

The world was a cauldron of confusion and contradiction. I was surrounded by sin, suffering, evil and death.  Or that’s what it felt like.  I cried out in despair, “I need new gods! Where are our superheroes when we need them most?”

I waited. It felt like a very long time.

POW!

A great light flashed. Before me stood a giant figure with the body of a man and head of a coy-wolf.  

“Oh my god!” I said.  

“Actually, I’m a saint,” they said.

“Where did you come from?”

“You invoked me, so my fathers made me.”

“Fathers?”

“Saint Christopher, Anubis, and Coyote.” They blinked, turned, and walked purposefully away.

KA-BOOM!

A thunderous clap erupted.  A second great figure appeared with the body of a woman and head of an elephant.  She had kind piercing eyes.

“Hello,” I said timidly, “Who are you?”

“I am Mother Destroyer of Obstacles.”

“Did I invoke you?”

“Hmmm….maybe, but my mother Mary and my father Ganesh have been carrying on an affair for centuries.  I think your invocation was just an excuse.  Anyway, I’m here now and I have a lot of work to do.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Now materialized three identical women with long hair and...fur. So much fur everywhere, except, ahem. Let’s just be plain about this, they had fur everywhere except their rather GIANT vaginas. And were their vaginas GLOWING?

Suddenly I noticed that each carried a long sword and round their hips they wore skirts of severed arms.  

My heart began to race.

“Why are you here?” I asked.

“We are the daughters of Kali and Mary Magdalene: Justice, Knowledge, and Love. We are each tasked to cast out seven demons from humanity," responded the first sister. "That’s a whole lot of ass-kicking," said the second sister turning to go. The third sister looked back for a moment and said, “There will be more of us.”

WANT is an ongoing series about what we desire, what we wrestle with, what we hold onto and what we are willing to stand for.

What do you want?

Self Portrait as an 18th century Botanical Explorer Action Figure, 2014, wooden mannequin, epoxy clay, human hair, fabric, leather, acrylic paint, approximate dimensions (variable): 12.5 x 4 x 2 inches

The idea for this series began in 2011 when I lived in the Netherlands for 3 years.  Ten miles outside of Amsterdam exists the world's largest flower auction. Every day over 20 million flowering plants arrive in Aalsmeer from around the planet, are sold in minutes, then are shipped back out across the globe. This dramatic example of human-plant mutualism led me to the progenitors of this modern day trade: the natural philosophers and botanical explorers during the Age of Discovery.  

My research is focused on, but not limited to 18th and 19th century plant hunters (men and women) held in "thrall" by certain species of flora. Lured across oceans and to the ends of the earth, the adventures of plant collectors often ended in their rather tragic demise. I am interested in the role desire and conquest plays for not only the human characters, but also the plant actors in these stories. 

What is Wonderarium?
WONDER + TERRARIUM = A GIANT FLOATING TERRARIUM 

This site-specific proposal by artists Sarah Filley and Yvette Molina was conceived in 2009 to enchant and reinvigorate our romance for Oakland’s "urban jewel” Lake Merritt. Developed in collaboration with Architecture and Engineering Firm Ware Associates, the design includes a clear acrylic sphere (eight feet in diameter) mounted on an elegant tri-foot floatation apparatus. The sphere is designed to house a diverse selection of living plants. In the evening it will be illuminated from within by LED lighting. 

The Mobile Plant Ambassador unit was developed in 2010 by artists Yvette Molina and Sarah Filley to take plants “on the road.”  A visual mash-up of ice cream carts, nostalgic vending stands, and Barnum and Bailey type attractions, the Mobile Plant Ambassador promotes spontaneous interaction with the novel experience of building a terrarium directly from the cart.  All supplies: glass containers, pumice, soil, and a variety of plant cuttings, are arranged in the order needed to build a terrarium in four easy steps. Participants are invited to express their personal creativity through plants while learning about propagation, plant care, and micro-systems – the only fee is curiosity!