Redeiras de Ons
Linocut print
Hahnemühle paper of 300 g.
35×35 cm.
Limited edition of 50 prints (available for purchase here).

Redeiras de Ons is a tribute to the so-called redeiras, women who have been dedicated to weaving and repairing fishing nets in Galicia, Spain, since ancient times. The redeiras, despite being essential in the fishing activity, still continue to fight for decent working conditions. As it was a job mainly performed by women, it was considered as just another household chore for a very long time.

My father’s grandmother was born and raised in a village near the city of Pontevedra, located in the heart of the Rías Baixas. She left her hometown when she married my great-grandfather, who came from a small village in El Bierzo. That is why, with the arrival of summer heat, my family moves to these Galician lands every year since my great-grandparents’ marriage. Another custom my family preserve is to witness the sunset from the beach, and, every single evening, we watch the sun fall down over the Ons island. This is the reason why this Atlantic island is the setting for my new linocut print, of which San Xoaquín is the patron saint.

The prayer in the phylactery –Saint Joaquin of the island, give us wind in the stern, because we have to reach the port and our sails are broken- is taken from a small poem painted on the facade of the church of San Xoaquín, built in the 1960s. Researching on the Internet about the origin of the poem, I came across a totally unexpected story. The author of these verses was a young man who entered a school poetry contest whose theme revolved around the Ons island. His poem was so good that it was inmortalized on the church’s facade, but, as I could read, he wants to keep his name anonymous.

Redeiras de Ons is, therefore, an ode to this land of western Galicia and its traditions, as well as a vindication of this race of women who still continue to struggle for decent work conditions. But, in addition, this art print is also a call of attention on the problem of plastic in the oceans.