Pilgrimage, 2016
for Ayden LeRoux

Before her Odyssey, Ayden LeRoux and her partner went on a life-changing tour of the land art of the American West. The Odyssey Works team saw in this and in the huge changes she was facing in her life—moving, leaving a job, seeking a new career, schooling, and reckoning with health challenges—as a clear call for something she had already been fascinated with: a Pilgrimage. Before her Odyssey she had received a series of letters written between a pair of women on their own pilgrimages; the letters described a mystical place they called The Place of the Fallen Star. Though she didn’t know it, this described Dark Star Park, was a piece created by land artist Nancy Holt in Arlington, VA.

Ayden’s pilgrimage would lead her from Brooklyn to Manhattan and on to Maryland and Virginia. On her final day in New York City after eight years living there, she encountered friends, family, and strangers, gathering strength from various sources of power, ultimately finding herself at Brooklyn Bridge Park. There, a crew of dancers led the public in a choreographed scene in which she was enveloped by the group and wrapped in a cocoon of sheets inscribed with people’s hopes and dreams. In this cocoon, she was transported southward, away from her home and toward her future. She arrived that night in a strange house filled with pilgrims who joined her on her journey. Together they baked bread and then began a fast.

What followed was a long and arduous journey with many beautiful encounters. Ayden traveled by foot and train and car, covering many miles as she headed toward the Place of the Fallen Star. As she approached the pilgrimage site, she was given a pilgrim’s tunic, regalia made by a Native American woman who had faced similar health issues, and talismans inscribed with the wishes of friends and strangers.

At the end of her journey—sunset at Dark Star Park—she joined the other pilgrims as they left their offerings along with their petitions. The offering was both collective and personal, and as the night overtook the moment, the group dispersed and went on the rest of their life journeys, and Ayden did as well.

For a more in depth story about Pilgrimage, read more from Newsweek and Baltimore City Paper, or listen to her discuss the experience on WYPR.

Locations

New York: 3B Bed and Breakfast, QLabs, East River Ferry, The New York Picture Library; Maryland: private homes, Church and Company, The C&O Canal Tow Path; Virginia: Dark Star Park in Arglington, VA. Public Scene: Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Credits