limerent prayers

Limerencia Tropical

Tropical Limerence is a term coined by psychologist Dorothy Tennov in the 1970s to define the human condition of obsessive attraction from one person to another. In her book, Love and Limerence: The experience of being in love, Tennov explains how psychological conditions triggered by trauma can lead to the misunderstanding and malpractice of love, pushing people to confuse the feeling of love with others.

Statement

I am rescuing this term to analyze/label social patterns and behaviors from one group and region to another by suggesting that limerence is a core cause of many of our global injustices and toxic international relationship. Tropical Limerence aims to unravel how the Caribbean and the global south (BIPOC) perceive themselves in relation to the global north as a “Limerent subject” by documenting, in film and ceramic, the experiences mainly of female-identified folks. At this moment, where Love is considered a radical action and intersectional and anti-colonial practices are in a phase of (re)definition, I am highly interested to learn how everyday people in these regions are fighting their struggles and healing their traumas.