To the ancient alchemists, sulfur, mercury and salt held profound significance. Known as the Tria Prima, these three substances were believed to be the fundamental principles of matter, existing in different proportions. Gold represented, in their eyes, the perfect balance of all three.
In the Bible, sulfur was known as “brimstone”, a substance associated with divine wrath, destruction and the fires of Hell. This association gave sulfur an enduring and fearful symbolism.
Sulfur has been extracted from the earth since antiquity and was valued for a variety of purposes. During the Industrial Revolution, demand increased dramatically as new industrial processes emerged. In the nineteenth century, Sicily became the world's principal source of sulfur, with its mines supplying much of the international market.
Behind this industry lay a largely forgotten human cost.
This quilt tells the story of the Carusi—the young boys who laboured in Sicily's sulfur mines. Some were sold into the mines by desperately poor parents; others were placed there by orphanage caretakers. Their labour was harsh and dangerous. For these children, the biblical imagery of sulfur and Hell was grimly appropriate. This artwork stands as a record of their suffering and is a tribute to the children whose voices were largely lost beneath the ground they were forced to work.