Arleen Arreola

I have a small corner space that is a part of my table/booth set in my kitchen. I used a cloth napkin I was gifted from Mexico to place my items on. I also made marigold flowers since I did not have access to fresh ones. My theme is a general ancestral altar that includes a few loved ones that have passed and adding items that they enjoyed.

I found my corner booth space to be the perfect altar space, especially considering I do not have much room in my studio. It is a great spot to place everything without worrying about it getting moved or disrupted.

I added gin, garlic, lentils, tapatío, and s few corn husks as symbolic food items for my family. My grandfather worked in cornfields with his daughter, my aunt, who very recently passed as well. They would eat lentils and used spices to make food feel more luxurious than they perceived it… which is why I added garlic and the tapatío. As for the salt lamp, I added to the altar because my grandparents loved to put salt on their food (almost too much!), and the heat that emits off of the salt rock balances electromagnetic radiation and purifies the air which I find beneficial for guidance to my altar. Gin, because they enjoyed having alcohol at the end of a long day, and matches since my aunt and grandfather were smokers… coffee beans resembling the café de olla they loved. The disposable camera represents the photos of my grandfather who enjoyed taking of his children in the ’60s. The Tablita Magica reminded my family of playing with our family that has passed.

Elements: Marigolds, candles, copal incense, palo santo, sage that was harvested by a friend of mine in Ojai, water, salt lamp.