Italian publishing house Automatic Books just published a 24-page book of artist Claire Duport’s Voodoo inspired illustration and poems, called Vodun. In this limited edition 1 of 100 copies book Duport explores a very personal view and re-interpreting of a specific voodoo and the feeling that it triggers in her. “Poems seemed to me the best way to express both a theoretical and intimate explanation,” says the artist.
From the Artist
I concentrated my attention on the African voodoo (where its roots are really from) which take the shape of little sculptures (fetish’s) – even though there are really numerous different ways to build a voodoo. I chose this specific case because I really like the way they make it with organic materials from the Earth, they believe that they have soul according to the Animist religion. The other big representation is the Haitian voodoo (after slaves were forcibly shipped to West Indies) which is more pictorial, like drawings on the floors, it’s much more symbolical. There is a specific voodoo in many different parts of the the world.
In Voodoo, each sculpture is made for a specific wish that humans ask to spirits. It can be to protect, to heal, to punish or to kill, etc… It’s a direct link between the visible world of humans and the invisible world of spirits. Each element of the sculpture is specifically requested from the spirits, and represent a specific power and meaning.After the fetish is done, they start a lot of rituals on it, they pray, they sing, the spit, they do a lot of sacrifices, spread blood on it, alcohol, smoke, etc…. they are all offerings to the spirits in order to ask them the favor. At the end the fetish looks like a disgusting and smelling piece of trash. The more the crust is thick, the more it means they worked on it… More than just the object, it’s all the anthropological meaning behind it that really impassions me. It rules their inner society and drives the path of their daily lives.
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