MY MUM IS WHITE is the perfect place to teach 8-stations for the first time.
A great set up
I've taught 12-words umpteen times so I know it works. 8-stations has always proved trickier. So tricky I've never given it a true shot. The 8' x 8' paper on HOME gallery's floor makes it easy.
12-words
When I say what does a mixed-race sink look like what is the first object you think of? They write it down.
On one sheet of paper write 1 — 12 in a list. Write 12 things you associate with your object. Example donkey: Mary and Joseph/beach. No, it does not have to be an object too.
On second sheet of paper, you have 15 minutes to write. You must use your title: a mixed-race sink looks like. Object. 12 associations. Tick them off on your 1st piece of paper.
Image 1. Writing their 12-words.
Image 2. Latecomers writing their 12-words.
Image 3. Sharing their 12-words.
8-stations
The 8' x 8' paper on the floor in the centre is perfect. I can demonstrate. The mind-maps in the hanging forest all begin with 8-stations.
First I get the attendees to reread their 12-words stories to themselves. And isolate 8 interesting things. Can be a theme, a word, an image, a discovery. Number them 1 — 8.
Then I get in the middle of my paper and draw a square. Overlay it with a diamond. Number the corners 1 — 8.
8-station symbols
Is the fallen angel. The protagonist.
Is the background, shading. E.g. if I am gonna make this into a picture of the sea I will probably paint the entire canvas blue.
Is a mask. Something is hidden.
Is a moon. Whatever lands here is a cycle.
Is a rectangle turning black to white. Change.
Is the world being created. The equator, capricorn, cancer, the climate.
Are ghosts.
Is a sword. It will slice you to death. Or arm you for your future. It can even be the sword you have been waiting to pull from a stone.
This is the secret. You have to interpret the stations like tarot cards. Allow them to talk to you.
Now put your 8 interesting moments from your 12 words into their 8-stations. In the order they came to you. Do not cheat.
Your subconscious is trying to tell you something. Trying to help you discover something you don't know you know.
Translate your 8 interesting moments into images. Allow them to wander. Allow them to suggest more images to you.
Populating their 8-stations
Their first ever 8-station mind-maps
Feedback
Kate, Russian, Ukrainian, Jewish, with blonde hair in this photo, leaves a review on Linkedin.
Katerina Karp, Creative Director, Visual Artist, Researcher, Journalist, Bridging Art, Philosophy & Anthropology
Today I found myself at HOME, taking part in the workshop My Mum Is White: 12 Words and 8 Stations, led by artist and playwright Linda Brogan together with psychology professor Adam Danquah. The project is part of the exhibition My Mum Is White: Exorcising ‘Half-Caste’ Ghosts, where the gallery space turns into something between a studio and a place of therapy, a space for exploring memory, identity, and personal histories.
We worked with the method of twelve words and eight stations — practices that seem simple at first but open hidden layers of experience. You begin by fixing words that pull at invisible threads of your story, then use diagrams and imagination to unfold what they truly mean.
For me, the phrase “mixed-race sink look like” suddenly became a piano — rhythmic, complex, even an abstract, yet with a clear structure. Within it I found light and music, rhythm and form, and something that could only be expressed through words rather than drawings. Some of my words were magic, curios, colors are good visible, universe. Together they formed a kind of “magic diagram,” filling me with inspiration and a quiet sense of peace.
I left the workshop feeling that a puzzle inside me had settled into something whole. And I think each of us needs this kind of peace — whether mixed-race or not. In the end, it is about acceptance, about hearing your own rhythm, and walking your own path.”
When me and Adam turn MMIW into a blended art/psychology therapy, I think we should take our participants through our 3 successful workshops too.
Formally look at the 8 pillars of Caste defined by Isabel Wilkerson.
Formally enter Selma Fraiberg's paper Ghost's in the Nursery.
Formally practise my 12-words into 8-stations.
Added Bonus. Abi's dad came today.
Imagine how these photos feel to them
Abi, Kat, & Dad
Abi sits looking at the love of her life with both the loves of her life.
That seemingly innocent picture hides a racism laden day for both her and her dad.
Photos by Adam Danquah. Thank God photo maestro Solomon @s.b.hughes is back next week. Hahahahaha. He is over in Finland taking pics of his mum raising her barn in I AM FROM REYKJAVIK. Together they have travelled the world.