TOLD & RETOLD
a workshop + zine series that provides space to relearn and creatively explore our relationships to medicine, surroundings, and bodies with guidance from Chinese Medicine.
Collaborators: Li-Lan Hsiang Weiss L.Ac., Alexis McKenney
Framework: Five Paths
This series is framed around the five paths or elements in Chinese culture: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood.
Each element corresponding to certain movements, seasons, organs, and emotions.
The series activates our existing wisdom and stories through reflection, discussions, and collective art-making. Here, we encourage each other to embody the creativity needed for an ever-evolving and unfolding medicine practice.
Medicines are stories, told and retold, invented and reinvented based on deep listening and observation of circumstances and surroundings.
path of Summer & Yang
Fire
“The supernatural forces of summer create heat in the Heavens and fire on Earth; they create the heart and the pulse within the body…
the red color, the tongue, and the ability to express laughter…they create the bitter flavor, and the emotions of happiness and joy.”
The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine
the earliest written record on Chinese medicine theory, over 2000 years old, is still used today
physical copies of zines available at a sliding scale cost.
Email or DM on instagram to inquire.
path of Autumn & grief
Metal
The Chinese word, Jīn, more accurately translates as ‘Gold’ rather than ‘Metal’.
Gold as a malleable metal, transformed through alchemy; turning the inconspicuous into the valuable.
physical copies of zines available at a sliding scale cost.
Email or DM on instagram to inquire.
path of Winter & Yin
Water
Water represents the death phase: Winter, the end of a relationship, the later stages of a life.
Those endings provide space to rest and hibernate, as well as opportunity for something else to begin.
physical copies of zines available at a sliding scale cost.
Email or DM on instagram to inquire.
Workshops & Events
Events & workshops provide space for medicine holders, artists, and community members to share space, knowledge, and stories around cultural medicine practices and creative expression.
This project is supported by the Snapdragon Fund, NCAAT ASAP SPARK, and NQAPIA Good Trouble Mini-Grant.
