2023-24
gold sequin domestic fabric, vintage lace, capiz shells, brass bullet shells, chancleta, fishtail palm, sabal palm, funerary plants, woven palm fronds, cast jackfruit, cast brain coral & elkhorn coral, floor resin, wall insulation foam, interior latex house paint, building stud

Espejismo or "Mirage" Dome of the Rock is a Mother Mold monument cast of Lauren Woodson and Stevenson Dunn in Bedstuy Brooklyn 2023. A golden fertility effigy encrusted with intimate waste, environmental ephemera cast in domestic construction materials glows in a radiant aura emanating from a poppy hued window. The pregnant torso with a disembodied hand grasping the belly, billows iridescent gold fabric from the figure's afterbirth- as rays of Southern light emanate from beyond in this site specific installation. Cradled by an autumnal haze of black and gold flecked window curtains and tropical silk, the swollen belly glistens with explosions of colorful cast funerary flowers, capped in brass bullet casings and shrouded by woven palm fronds. Gold painted citrus and coral collected along Miami Beach after full moon King tides, tropical storms and hurricanes scatter from the limbs and neck of the overgrown figure. Gold sequined interior domestic fabric levitates the heightened matriarch as cast jack fruit, brain coral and elkhorn coral birth from its origin.

Lauren Bishop and Stevenson Dunn of Bedstuy Brooklyn are the first family of Muslim faith to be cast in the Mama Spa Botanica workshop May 2023. Among the discussions during the casting session was the role faith plays in the couple's life as they prepare for their first born to enshrine their family traditions. Dome of the Rock is a shrine in Jerusalem known to Muslims as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf. The gold aura dome contrasts raw sand stone beneath where the Prophet Muhammad was believed to have been taken up into heaven for an encounter with God (an event known as the Mirage). Mounted on an elevated drum of wide tiles in the late 7th century, its nascent form within religious architecture is known as Martyria- typically circular or polygonal shrines erected to mark the graves of saints. Other architectural divine influences may have been the Kathisma (the Mother of God), a nearby octagonal matyrium.

To Jewish people, the monumental significance of the site lies in its extant inheritance. After David captured Jerusalem around 1000 bce as his capital, his son and successor Solomon built a temple that became the most sacred centre of religious practice for the ancient Isrealites. Herodian reconstruction of the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 ce and a Roman city (Aelia Capitolina) was erected in Jerusalem's place in 135 ce.

Exhibited at the Southern Survey Biennial Project Row Houses Houston, TX October 12 2024 - February 9 2025 curated by Dr Kimberli Gant with support by Cydney Pickens