birth of amaru negro (for the chaos of our strongest feelings) (2019)

malleable sculptural installation and ritual performance dreamscape, part of GRADEX 104 OCAD University graduate exhibit.

in the Aymara and Quechua languages, amaru is the word for serpent, who in Andean cosmology is known as the omniscient protector of the underworld and the innermost, the place where the future emerges from. in Andean-Amazonian cosmology, spacetime is understood to be spherical-cyclical (three spheres, residing within the other, in a state of constant flux).

birth of amaru negro (for the chaos of our strongest feelings) is a dreamscape installation weaving together remnants of ritual performances—assemblages of decolonial brujerías (art objects blessed by my idiosyncratic witchy spirituality)—documenting my affective experiences with surgical menopause as a reclamation of bodily autonomy.

installation view

detail view of hanging sculptural piece, branches, tulle khipu knots, steel mesh, and chain

installation detail, tree knot hanging from chain surrounded by yellow and orange tulle

installation detail, black and yellow tulle hanging over branches

installation detail, tree knot hanging from chain with agua de florida and agua de kananga

performance, rubbing black ink on cut tree knot

performance, dripping black ink on cut tree knot

installation detail, tree bark wrapped in black tulle and silver chains. GRADEX 104 OCAD University, lwrds duniam art

installation detail, tree bark wrapped in black tulle and metal chains

installation detail, bark and small branches in the foreground, hanging tulle khipu in the background

installation detail, hanging clit sheet, black and purple ink on white fabric with knotted white fabric wrapped clit sculpture on the ground, branches and black tulle

installation detail, hanging clit sheet in the background with knotted white fabric wrapped clit sculpture in the foreground, covered in grey palo santo ash, branches, wooden bowl, and black tulle

installation detail, hanging clit sheet, black and purple ink on white fabric with tulle hanging khipu knots in the foreground

installation detail, hanging clit sheet in the background with knotted white fabric wrapped clit sculpture in the foreground, covered in grey palo santo ash, branches, wooden bowl with black ink, and black tulle

detail, performance remnants, black ink on wall with hand shadow and black tulle

installation view