Yvette Molina

After 2016, I felt so despairing and helpless about the situation of the US (and the world) that it seemed only miracles and deities could remedy things — thus my series of new gods and goddesses. Something different happened when Covid struck and when George Floyd was murdered. I certainly had feelings of despair, but helplessness was replaced by rage and all around me were women in my immediate circles that were active in organizing and leading in mutual aid response, demonstrating, educating, and demanding change. I had been meaning to do a series of volcano goddesses for over a year, but had never gotten to it. In the past months the idea returned but this time I didn’t need to invent goddesses. I know them. Or at least I know many of them, but there are multitudes and I imagine I will be making many, many more of these.  

Each of these is a portrait of sorts. Five of the six women depicted are people I know and deeply admire. All six women have made a mark on my life. Dominique Rem’mie Fells is the one woman I didn’t know. I don’t know if she was political or if her beliefs were similar to mine, but I wanted to pay homage to her courage and her life. I read a quote by Honey Dijon that said, “If trans people can do anything, it's to inspire other people. Because to go from one gender to another, when the whole world tells you you’re not what you are, you have to deal with all that societal, physical and emotional pain — just in order to be. And that resilience and that strength to me, is one of the most beautiful things in the world. Because no matter what, we still have the courage to live our truth and that is so powerful for anybody.