Morales Urbina Fills Westchester Bank Vault with Guatemalan Healing Herbs
The installation uses hundreds of Pericón tea bags to create a multisensory space that challenges the traditional purpose of financial storage.
By Stella Brooks ·
Josué Morales Urbina has filled the historic bank vault at ArtsWestchester with hundreds of Pericón tea bags. This aromatic herb, native to Central America, serves as the central element of a new multisensory installation. The scent is described as sweet and anise-like. The work transforms a space designed to hold wealth into a site for sensory and spiritual experience.
The exhibition, titled Pericón: A Cure for All Ailments, lines the walls of the vault with the tea bags. This arrangement creates a fragrant canopy that changes the atmosphere of the room. The installation is based on the traditional medicinal uses of the herb in Guatemalan culture. It is commonly used to treat nausea and acts as a general relaxant.
Morales Urbina, who was born in Guatemala City, draws on these ancestral practices. His work often explores themes of transcultural displacement and memory. The artist lives in the United States and identifies as a third culture kid. He uses materials such as drinking straws, rubber bands, and coffee beans in his sculptures. For this specific project, he focuses on water, scent, and touch.
Visitors are asked to remove their shoes before entering the space. They walk barefoot through the installation to engage their senses of smell and movement. The artist intends the environment to offer a sense of refuge. It invites people to consider wellness and the role of art in healing. The work places traditional knowledge inside a structure built to protect financial value.
This project is part of the Janet Langsam Vault Project at ArtsWestchester. The initiative provides funding for artists to create site-responsive installations. The goal is to allow creative voices to experiment and engage with community topics. Janet Langsam states that the vault will serve as a permanent venue for such work. She notes that the space is meant to elevate the value of the arts beyond the marketplace.
The installation opens to the public this week. It is housed in a bank vault that has previously hosted other artists exploring cultural identity. The current work contrasts the cold, secure nature of the original space with the organic, fragrant presence of the herb. The tea bags are arranged to form an intimate sanctuary within the large chamber.
Morales Urbina’s career includes residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. He has exhibited nationally and internationally. His practice examines the impermanence of memory and the feeling of foreignness. He describes his art practice as a way to build a home for himself. The current project extends this idea of home into a shared architectural space.
An artist talk and activation are scheduled for Sunday, November 8, at 3 PM. The event includes a tea party where participants can taste the Pericón. The artist will discuss the Guatemalan traditions behind the herb. The installation remains open for viewing in the days leading up to this event. The work continues to occupy the vault at ArtsWestchester.
