Sierra Nevada -23x30cm - Mixed Medium
The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is a mountain in Colombia and around it, the indigenous populations Arhuaco, Wiwa, Kogi, and Kankuamo live on its slopes. This place is also considered the heart of the world and its land is sacred. As we arrived at Pueblo Bello, the local authorities told us that we could not go to Nabusimake, the capital of the Arhuaco people, an indigenous community. Luckily we found a man from the same community that found a place where we could camp for 4 days. After 1/30h with the motorbike (no helmet, no streets, just dirt, rocks, rivers and snakes) we arrived at Jewrwa, an indigenous community. In order to stay there we had to do a ritual to purify our bodies and souls. We reached the Kankura (a house made of mud) and we were greeted by the Mamo (the spiritual guide) and other people that were around the bonfire. The Mamo gave us a string and we had to roll it around our hands for 60 times, thinking about our lives and our journey. Then, the son of the Mamo took us to the river where we had to swim in order to purify our bodies. When we came baci i k, the Mamo gave us a white bracelet that was the proof of our new purity and the permission to walk on their sacred land.
This was the most important journey of my life (up till now) and took me out of a very dark place. Going back to my roots. Nature is always a healer and here I felt I part of something greater than myself.
I used colours based on photographs that I took while being there, nature, pineapples, rivers.
I wrote lyrics for this painting (translated from italian):
My will to live
My feet are roots
deep down my essence
moments of infinite discovery
I want to live
accepting pain and love
nature as a cure for the wounds of the soul
the ones you can't touch
the ones you see in the morning when I can't get up
The heaviness in my chest is losing power
as I walk through valleys and streams
paths that bring me back to the real me
I don't need to fight anymore
I just have to let it go
I rest my head on a pillow of memories
Green and blue
And now that I see concrete monsters from my window
I think back to when we ran free
the future was always there
inside me
waiting.