Regina Villanyi-Kollar

I have chosen an artifact for ‘Talking Colours’ task and I started to think about its details and texture. When I spent some time in Peru, I had a chance to take part in a ritual led by a Peruvian shaman. The main essentials were coca leaves, an embryo of a llama which means the cycle of life, an egg which represents the main energy of animals, some pieces of golds and silvers which represents the encompassing mineral world. These objects together embody the saint package which was dug by the shaman after the ceremony. I chose these objects to be observed and presented through the ways of seeing part of the project.

The soil transmits the message of the shaman towards the Gods. Peruvian society’s faith is mainly in energy and its flow. Their belief is based on respect of nature and communication with their Gods through mountains and coca leaves. There are a few important mountains as well which helps to communicate. There are many meaningful details given by the history which represents the cycle of life in Peru. The most famous one is the perpetual circle which is called Pachamama. It reminds that life has no end, it has always been a cycle. In my drawings, I visualized this motif and tried to create a new vision using and layering ink, spray and amrkers through ways of seeing.

As an inspiration to my ‘Intro to’ project I chose an artifact which illustrates a shaman who hold a head in his hands. When I was in Peru a few years ago, I bought this artifact which was made from clay and I started to observe it at home while I was in quarantine. I started to think about shaman culture and spirituality in Peru, so I created faces and characters which I can associate with shamans. I worked with different techniques and textures; I experimented with acrylic spray and paint on canvas and body paint on paper. I tried to paint with henna as well. It was interesting to see how these textures relate to each other.

I associate this artisan artifact with nature. I mainly used earthy colors to my drawings, for instance different shades of earthy green and brown. I used gold colored paint as well to illustrate details of women’s jewelleries in Peru.