Mixed Media Installation

2024

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The inspiration for this piece came from an old Colombian legend. It is said that during the Spanish conquest of the Colombian territory, many indigenous tribes were decimated not only by disease brought by the Spanish conquerors, but also by their forceful subjugation and inhuman enslavement practices. The treatment of indigenous individuals was so brutal that many tried to escape, fleeing to the highest reaches of the Andes mountains or losing themselves in the tropical jungle. Those who went into the mountains were more at risk of being apprehended, and many, in their desperate circumstances, appealed to their Gods for protection and assistance. The Tequendama river, a tributary of the Amazon, runs in one of the highest plateaus of the Andes Mountains, and it is famous for it’s 500 feet high waterfall. Many indigenous individuals took their canoes into the river and rowed towards the falls. It was their belief that if they showed courage and let their canoes be guided by the river into the fall, their gods would turn them into eagles and they would fly to freedom.  My piece is a tribute to those who were so desperate and hopeless that took the leap, and who lay buried at the foot of the Tequendama Fall. 

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