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

1685033022 298 Guadalupe Maravilla transforms a school bus into an immersive installation | RetinaComics



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

“Butterfly Lightning” (2023), mixed media, about 13×8.5×35 feet. All images by GLR Studio Gerardo & Eduardo Lopez, New York, © Guadalupe Maravilla, shared with permission

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.

The front of a chrome and silver school bus with spiritual and sculptural details, including Mayan-inspired sculptures and a human anatomy model

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.

A huge beetle sculpture sits on a chrome with butter knife fringe underneath

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

A metal crocodile head protrudes from the side of a school bus

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

Two detailed images, on the left the steps of a bus with Mayan-inspired sculpture and cutlery fringe, on the right the floor and spoon fringe

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

Visitors walk inside a silver and chrome school bus with spiritual and sculptural details

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

Guadalupe Maravilla sits on a silver and chrome school bus with spiritual and sculptural details

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

A large aluminum sculpture with a gong at the top center rests on the floor

“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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