This image reflects Paloma’s connection between the creative process and her emergence from depression.

Paloma’s inspiration for her textile piece ‘Chispa’* is the novel by Laura Esquivel – ‘Like Water for Chocolate’. In the Art session Paloma related how the central character had ‘gone inward and lifeless’ then returns ‘to life’ through the insight of a doctor/healer whose provides the ‘oxygen and detonator to activate the matches within.’

Paloma describes the time when she herself was ‘lost to depression’ as:

‘flat, bland with no colour, – colours are so important to me, they are part of my culture and I missed them so much – once I was surprised when passing by a mirror – I could not see myself – those hunted eyes the sadness in my face, I had died.’

Paloma observed that this collage represented ‘when we find ourselves at a particular, special, wonderous time when our matches are finally dry and we find a detonator that will give us food for the soul.’ She maintains that involvement in creativity has ‘returned to me my colours’.

* Chispa denotes ‘spark’ in Spanish