Claudia Martínez Garay

escenario chacana

escenario chacana by Claudia Martínez Garay is a sculptural work composed of a frame-like structure that contains a series of ceramic pieces. It references the Chakana, an Andean cross that encompasses the different levels of existence (known as Pachas) and sacred elements contained in the Indigenous cosmologies of the region. It often appears in the geometrical motifs of textiles and ceramics. Martínez Garay offers a series of sceneries made of ceramics, contained inside the shape of the cross with allusions to both pre-Hispanic and contemporary rural Peru, showing both Christian and Indigenous references. At the center, there is a man defeated after having drank too much beer. This is the spot of a cosmic portal from where a shaman can transit and transcend the plane of everyday existence. The ceramic objects correspond to the different elements that compose the Chakana cross (the upper level, the everyday, the underworld, fire, air, earth and water, and a series of activities that keep a balance), re-actualizing their possible symbolism in today’s Perú, and pointing to both the importance of this heritage and the pervasive, unbalancing effects of colonialism.