Rites
An audio-visual installation by Janelle // jei Lawrence
with visual contributions by Mariah Rivera
Welcome.
This is a space to feel, to wander, to not-know.
Rites invites you into a sensory maze of sound, sculpture, and memory. It is an altar in motion, a procession through nonlinear stages of grief and transformation. Each corner cradles a moment—some with audio, some with video, each a quiet reckoning.
This is not a directive. There are no right ways here. Only invitations.
Bring your headphones. Keep one ear in the world, one tuned inward. Pause at any altar that calls. Let your own rhythm shape the experience.
At the entrance: baskets of dried herbs and flowers. Take one if you wish. Leave it at the altar that speaks to you today. At the end: a guide to what each herb means. You may walk the maze again. Or simply sit.
STAGES + ARTWORKS
Each altar is accompanied by an audio or video offering. To listen, scan the QR code at the altar with your headphones. Video altars have dedicated screens and headphone sets. Notes and reflections are left digitally. The most important is at the exit.
Begin
Death // Loss
"dying in tree time" (Video, 2025)
We begin where it ends. Something ancient. Something real. The silence after a name is spoken for the last time.
Anger
"Guilty Pleasure Overload Altar" (Mixed Media, 2025)
"Release Box" (2025)
Hot teeth. Split lip. We shout in directions to soothe us.
Pretend
"PeoplebeingPeoplepretendingtobePeoplewhileindisguiseasPeople" (Video, 2025)
"Offering Bowl, Dripped with Blue" (Ceramic, 2025)
I wore my best performance for the silence.
Bargaining
"dying in tree time" (Collage, 2025)
"Royal Offering Bowl, Draped in Jewels" (Ceramic & Jewelry, 2024–2022)
I lit candles. I made trades. I bartered my peace for what couldn’t be undone.
Depression
"Performative dying" (Collage, 2025)
"dusty etiquette" (2025)
Stillness like fog. Heavy rooms. Breathing through velvet waterboards.
Acceptance
"Gifted Hands" (Painting, 2025)
"Serenity Set Altar" (2025)
The breath came back. I didn’t notice at first. Like a light at the end of the tunnel.
Grief
"petals & tears" (Sculpture, 2025)
What softens when we cry? Is the salt release, or sediment?
Shock
"liminal" (Sculpture, 2025)
The world re-formed too fast. I had to let go.
Hope
"flower release" (Sculpture, 2025)
"Let Go Affirmation Cards" (Print, 2025)
Hope doesn’t ask. It slips in quietly, when your back is turned.
Death \\ Loss
"confessional" (Altar, 2025)
"Life Elixir Tea" (Butterfly Pea Flower, Ginger Mint, Ginger + Honey)
The return is not a loop, but a spiral. We come back to the end, different.