UNC's Stone Center showcases Hispanic healing rituals

It has historically been a woman’s job to heal the soul and spirit.

With the Sonja Haynes Stone Center’s newest exhibit, “La Sombra y el Espíritu: Women’s Healing Rituals in the Diaspora,” the tradition continues.

The exhibit, consisting of photographic self-portraits by UNC alumna Wendy Phillips and oil paintings by Lucía Méndez, brings together two separate projects that explore the role of women’s healing rituals in Hispanic communities. Both display strong women and empowering figures.

Artists usually submit works to the center, which are reviewed and chosen by a committee. But this project was different.

“This semester, we don’t have an arching theme, but we’re tying in to the performing arts theme of the diaspora idea,” said Ursula Littlejohn, the program coordinator at the Stone Center.

This school year, UNC is linking film, lectures and theater with the theme of diaspora, a migration of people from their homelands.

Joseph Jordan, director of the Stone Center, knew both of the artists and realized their works could be combined to demonstrate the diaspora theme.

For Phillips, a black woman who studied in Mexico when working on this project, her experience with the artwork was extremely personal.

“I had been doing family history research and because of the circumstances of the slave trade, I got to a point where I just couldn’t find any more information about my ancestors,” she said. “I just hit a wall.”

While in Mexico, Phillips heard about nearby communities of people of African descent and began working on a documentary project. These communities inspired Phillips’ new photography project.

“Wendy roamed to find her place, to find her calling,” Jordan said.

Her collection is divided into two parts: La Limpia and La Sombra. La Limpia is a cleansing set, composed of Phillips’ self-portraits taken in her garden. La Sombra, meaning the soul or the shadow, is a collection interpreting an embodiment of the soul devoid of the body and is made up of smaller prints.

Méndez was not at the exhibit’s opening Thursday, but her presence could be felt through her bold, bright illustrations of the healing woman.

Freshman Chelsey Robertson joined classmates in attending the event for extra credit.

“I think it is really cool, and I’m anxious to hear more about them, what they’re all about,” Robertson said about the works.

Though they work in different mediums, both artists speak to the migratory theme.

“It allows us to continue to delve into diaspora,” Jordan said at the event. “Not only what it means, but how it makes meaning in our lives.”



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