Gladys Ortiz Bogota

Sin Titulo Figuras
oil on canvas

Besides my work as a landscape painter, I have always looked for a way of expression between abstraction and figuration, between line and matter, which would confront my feelings with the medium. It was on my first visit to San Agustin, Colombia, the pre-Columbian archaeological center of the Agustinian indigenous culture, that the path to follow was clear for my artistic and spiritual searching. I was guided by Taitas or Chamanes (Shaman or spiritual guides of the people), who awoke in me a deep respect for their knowledge of the universe. I understood how the Indian is taking part in a complex net of relationships that include the whole universe, the relationship between humans and the environment, plants and animals. Symbols and concepts coming from the Andes religion emerged in my paintings: animals such as wild cats and snakes. the human head as a symbol of life and death; the strength of the sun as an emblem of power; couples in an intimate hug, motherhood, phallus forms and alter-egos (duality that symbolized two opposite phases).

© Gladys Ortiz Bogota