A viscous substance undergoes metamorphosis.
Dark petroleum shifts to crimson, blood-like,
then returns to its original state.

The cycle continues,
hypnotic, inevitable.

Through constant transformation,
the work troubles separation.

Oil and blood.
Resource and consequence.
Extraction and sacrifice.

Phases of the same cycle
rather than separate substances.

The transition is gradual, visceral.
What appears as petroleum
carries memory of territories contested,
communities displaced,
defenders silenced.

What appears as blood
carries the weight of extraction,
the price of prosperity,
the violence at the frontiers
where land is contested
and life is shed.

In this liminal territory
between viscosity and fluidity,
between substance and symbol,
permanence dissolves.

The stories of resources, territories, and peoples
remain entangled.

Oil becomes blood becomes oil.

The cycle continues,
indifferent and intimate,
ancient and contemporary,
material and metaphorical.