This exhibition begins and ends with Pericón, an aromatic herb that is native to Central America and known for its medicinal properties and sweet, anise-like scent. Traditionally used as a natural dye, Pericón is also valued as a remedy for nausea and as a general relaxant.
Pericón: A Cure for All Ailments is a multisensory environment inspired by ancient botanical wisdom and a contemporary longing for healing in a damaged world. Hundreds of Pericón tea bags line the walls of ArtsWestchester’s historic bank vault, forming a fragrant canopy that transforms the space into an intimate sanctuary.
In today’s divisive political climate, the installation offers a place of refuge and introspection, inviting visitors to consider wellness, spirituality and the power of art as a form of healing. By enveloping the chamber with a traditional medicinal herb, Urbina places ancestral knowledge within a space that is designed to safeguard wealth and value, raising the question of what forms of knowledge deserve protection today.
About the Artist:
Josué Morales Urbina is an award-winning installation and sculpture artist whose work primarily explores transcultural displacement and dépaysement. Frequent themes in his art include a pervading sense of foreignness and the impermanence of memory, which he examines through contemplative abstract installations. These works are composed of a broad range of materials, including ordinary household objects such as drinking straws and rubber bands, as well as coffee beans, toasted white bread, and other edible materials.
The questions of foreignness in Morales Urbina’s work are rooted in his being born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and having lived across the United States as a “third culture kid” (an individual raised in a culture other than their parents’). Yet, as much as he creates to engage audiences in such explorations, Urbina’s artmaking has also led him to discover that he ultimately creates art “to build a home for myself; my art practice is my home.”
Morales Urbina’s career is marked by numerous accomplishments; he has exhibited widely, both nationally and internationally. An alum of the prestigious Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, he has completed residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, La Napoule Art Foundation’s Résidence d’Artiste Internationale, Centrum in Washington state, GoggleWorks, Byrdcliffe Arts Colony, NARS International AIR, SVA Artist Residency Program, ChaNorth, Banff and the Textile Arts Center’s AIR 16.
About the Janet Langsam Vault Project
The Janet Langsam Vault Project seeks to create an opportunity for visionary artists to experiment, expand their practices and have their voices heard. ArtsWestchester provides funding to its exhibiting artists to conceptualize and realize site-responsive installations that also engage with important topics in the community. Langsam explains: “As vaults traditionally hold objects of high value, this space will be a permanent venue for artists to create, explore and contribute to meaningful conversations. The Vault Project is meant to elevate the intrinsic value of the arts beyond the marketplace.”
From Josué Morales Urbina
Hello Yonkers Times Editorial Team,
I recently read your coverage of ArtsWestchester’s spring exhibitions, particularly the discussion of Rana Amirtahmasebi’s installation in the historic bank vault and the broader themes of cultural identity, memory, and displacement.
I appreciated seeing these kinds of artistic conversations shared with the Westchester community.
I’m reaching out because I currently have an installation in that same vault, titled Pericón: A Cure for All Ailments.
I’m a Guatemalan artist whose practice explores transcultural displacement, memory, and the relationship between the human body and architectural space.
For this exhibition, I’ve transformed the vault into a multisensory environment using Pericón tea bags, water, and scent. Visitors are invited to remove their shoes and enter the installation barefoot, experiencing the work through touch, smell, and movement.
The installation draws from Guatemalan traditions surrounding Pericón, a plant associated with healing, and explores how cultural rituals can create connections across different communities.
On Sunday, November 8, at 3 PM, I’ll be hosting an activation and artist talk, including a tea party.
I’d love to invite someone from your editorial team to experience the installation and consider featuring it for your readers.