Cities of You

City #22, Visit #1: Jirameas

16 x 20'', Ink and Gouache on Paper

The boulders that balance Jirameas are not the kind that you would find laying on the ground or cut by the forces of erosion or ice. Each mass of rock is hand-carved by citizens of Jirameas to reflect the appropriate size and shape of the ailment it represents. For example, to create the boulder for disease, they swing sledgehammers to create visible and hidden fractures that permeate the rock. For poverty, they rub sandpaper on the rock’s surface until it bleeds . To create the stone of corruption, they hollow out the rock, creating a just shell that will shatter if thrown too hard. And when pondering how to carve the boulder of ignorance, they sat and sat and thought, until they gave up.