Lay Your Burden Down by Carina A. del Rosario at Seattle Asian Art Museum
Lay Your Burden Down
In various parts of my life, the notion of surrender and rest has surfaced. A recent reminder came from Abraham Verghese’s novel Covenant of Water. In it, he writes about people in 20th Century India who carry loads on their heads and use “burden stones” along public paths. They place their bundle onto these head-height platforms so they can rest. Once refreshed, they ease their load on again back and keep going.
We all carry our own emotional burdens that can exhaust us and, if we let them, isolate us. Through this project, I invited people to share those heartaches by writing on papers I provided. I treated their contributions with starch, literally massaging strength into them, and mounted them onto fabric. I hosted sewing circles for people to take care of others’ heartaches by embellishing them with embroidery and fabric, then I stitched the pieces together.
Lay Your Burden Down is ultimately a communal act of care for participants to experience respite and feel supported in carrying on.
On view at Seattle Asian Art Museum through April 2026
Burden Stations: People shared whatever was weighing on their heart by writing it down on Japanese papers I provided. I set up little self-service displays at the Seattle Art Museum, events and staff rooms at workplaces. I directly mailed or gave people supplies who wanted to participate.
Momigami is a Japanese paper making process I used to strengthen the written messages. I made a liquid starch from konnyaku powder then brushed it onto the papers. I massaged it into each piece by crumpling and squeezing the papers, then flattening them to dry.
Sewing Circles: In 2025, I facilitated over a dozen sewing circles at various venues: the Seattle Asian Art Museum’s education studio, a collective art space, a church hall, a non-profit organization, an outdoor education center, private homes and my studio. Over 230 people participated, beautifully caring for other people’s burdens with their tender handiwork.
From left: at Side Rail Collective by Stephanie Araiza; at Heron’s Nest Outdoor Learning Center by Joselynn Toshiki Engstrom; at Stronghold by Roberto Ascalon; at Seattle Asian Art Museum by Wadiyah Nelson
Above are just a few of the over 250 burdens shared anonymously then sweetly stitched by another 250 “caregivers” at over a dozen sewing circles. (Photos by Zorn B. Taylor)
This project was made possible with support from the Seattle Art Museum’s Constance W. Rice Fellowship and Hermitage Artist Retreat Fellowship.