To accompany our current exhibition ‘Infinitas Gracias: Mexican miracle paintings‘, we’ve been working with professional illustrators to produce contemporary votive illustrations based on stories submitted by visitors to Wellcome Collection and to our website. Just as Mexican ex-voto paintings were made by painters to tell stories of thanks, we want to hear contemporary stories of gratitude and explore the process of exchange between storyteller and illustrator.
Amy Goh: Thrice strangled umbilical cord
Amy Goh’s latest illustration is for this story:
My elder sister was born with the umbilical cord wrapped three times around her neck. The doctors said she was dead and then my mother prayed to Saint Francis of Assisi to save her. Miraculously she lived and even though doctors predicted she would have brain problems, she is now very healthy with no signs of brain problems.
Matilda, the hospital, 1998. For Saint Francis of Assisi.
You can find out more about Amy Goh’s work and explore more votive illustrations on the Wellcome Collection website.
Could your gratitude inspire a votive? Tell us your story, and it could form the basis for an illustration.
