Kathia St. Hilaire’s practice grapples with histories that have been forgotten or actively suppressed, focusing on Haiti, where her parents emigrated from to the United States. Concentrating on the tradition of oral storytelling, she depicts the legend of the "Bois-Caiman" (Bwa Kayiman). This was a religious ceremony that took place in a Haitian swamp on the night of August 14, 1791, outside Saint-Domingue. According to oral and written tradition, a group of enslaved Africans gathered to plan their emancipation out of the system of slavery. They agreed to put an end to the colonial order in Saint-Domingue and insist upon the abolition of slavery across the whole island, and united under the common cause of political freedom. The Bois-Caiman of 1791 ushered in the later actions that led to the birth of the nation of Haiti.
In this work, St. Hilaire reflects on stories passed down from her ancestors to her parents, and then to her in her childhood. Sitting in a chair on the right side of the work, St. Hilaire shows herself as a child absorbing these histories. In the center of the scene, the Haitian artist Jean-Claude Saintilus (1960-2024) stands firmly, passing the story along to future generations. The figure's formal qualities are taken from John Thomas Smith's Vagabondiana series, which consists of etchings of wanderers and beggars in 1817 London. Surrounding him, St. Hilaire depicts two caimans, alluding to the ceremony of the Bois-Caiman, amongst patterns of vegetation inspired by St. Hilaire's childhood backyard in Florida. The scene plays out within a plus sign patterned canvas, taken from a West African drum. Placing herself and these references in the canvas, the artist recalls memories of events passed down within her family.