Guadalupe Maravilla transforms a school bus into an immersive installation for sound-based healing — Colossal



Art

#objects found #Guadalupe Maravilla #immigration #installation #sculpture #sound

Chrome, fringes of humble kitchen cutlery, illuminated chandeliers and symbolic sculptures of flora and fauna adorn a parked school bus at the ICA watershed in the Boston Harbor Naval Shipyard. The lavishly adapted vehicle is the largest project to date Wonder of Guadalupe and the latest addition to his Disease Launcher series.

Born out of the immigrant artist’s traumatic experience as an unaccompanied minor and suffering from colon cancer as an adult, the ongoing body of work showcases the healing power of sound and vibration. Entitled « Mariposa Relámpago, » or lightning butterfly, the new work had several lives before arriving in Boston: the bus was used to transport students to the United States, then sent to the artist’s native El Salvador, and finally it ended up at his studio where it underwent its current transformation.

Detail of “Mariposa Relámpago” (2023), mixed media, about 13 × 8.5 × 35 feet

Fixed to the body of the vehicle are several items Maravilla found while retracing the 3,000-mile route he traveled as an eight-year-old to reunite with his parents, who fled the country’s civil war. Included are references to Mayan cosmology and indigenous practices, spiritual emblems, and more contemporary imagery of disease and medicine, including a model of human anatomy resting on the hood. Gongs and other tonal objects suspended to the sides, which Maravilla makes play during her ritual sound baths. These sessions, which she has hosted specifically for undocumented immigrants and those dealing with cancer, are known to reduce the stress, anxiety and tension that can worsen the pain of illness and injuries.

Also in the Watershed exhibition are smaller paintings, scale models and Disease Launcher sculptures crafted from mixed natural and synthetic materials that equally reflect the artist’s exploration of displacement and retrieval. Immersive and totemic, the works are part of the artist’s effort to « deal with trauma to heal ».

Guadalupe Maravilla: Lightning butterfly is visible until 4 September, with two sound baths scheduled for 10 June and 13 August.

Detail of “Mariposa Relámpago” (2023), mixed media, about 13 × 8.5 × 35 feet

Detail of “Mariposa Relámpago” (2023), mixed media, about 13 × 8.5 × 35 feet

Detail of “Mariposa Relámpago” (2023), mixed media, about 13 × 8.5 × 35 feet

“Mariposa Relámpago” (2023), mixed media, about 13 × 8.5 × 35 feet

The artist in “Mariposa Relámpago” (2023), mixed media, about 13 × 8.5 × 35 feet

“Disease Thrower #14” (2021), cast aluminum, steel tubing, assorted welded details, 86 × 143 × 79 inches

#objects found #Guadalupe Maravilla #immigration #installation #sculpture #sound

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