15 February 2025 - Wintering
color studies from textiles 2024
Today I am reflecting about my ancestry. Last year I discovered so much about myself. Including about the percentage of my genes which are connected to my indigenous heritage. This is something that I am only now starting to actively think about, and which I am looking to explore and learn more over this year and going forward. The challenge in part is that I am not sure where I will begin yet.
I learnt that the language my ancestors spoke was Kiwcha, this is a variant of Quechua (the language that came from the Inca empire in South America). Kiwcha is actively spoken still by people in the Pichincha and Cotopaxi regions of Ecuador, and also in other parts along the Andes mountain range in Ecuador.
I am dedicating a small portion of time to learn about the language and traditions, beyond the basic things I picked up as a child, growing up in Ecuador.
The richness and colorful patterns used in weaving and knitting is something that is very appealing to me. And which I am exploring as studies that I will be bringing more into my creative practice and will be fusing into my paintings on some level.
I feel a calling to learn more. To research more, to understand better the richness of the language and of the crafts indigenous people of Ecuador make and which are common place in our culture.
Having lived abroad for so many decades, there are only fragments that remain of the memories lived there. I feel the richness of my culture in my soul and I am grateful that I have connected the importance of it to my creative endeavors.
I paint, use photography, sewing among other things and these are all regular aspects of my creative practice. I am also regularly conducting research about women in art from history and contemporary and engage in discourse about women in the arts in person. I am also very grateful for having many creatives in Oslo that I interact with regularly, artist sisters that inspire me. Looking to share more here about my research for my practice.
