During one of our trips to Ecuador, I remember that we walked through an outdoor arts and crafts exhibit. Everything I saw – from jewelry to paintings – was vibrant, alive, mystical, strange, and just staggering in terms of creative talent. But the piece pictured above is what I bought, for about $15, if I remember correctly. It’s made of rose petals. I think of it as the Ecuador alien, and it hangs in our living room.
Tonight, I was rewriting a chapter from the third book in my hungry ghost series, which takes place, like the first book, in Esperanza, Ecuador. This city, which lies at more than 13,000 feet in the Andes – and is totally fictional, okay?- was once a nonphysical place where the souls of the dying – transitionals – went. Here, they decided if they wanted to continue in physical life or move on. These transitionals were preyed upon by brujos – hungry ghosts who seized them, healed them, and then lived out their mortal lives in order to experience the pleasures of physical existence.
The light chasers, evolved souls who have overseen affairs in Esperanza for millennia, decided that the only way to get rid of the brujos was to bring Esperanza into the physical world, which they did 500 years ago. Esperanza now, in the 21st century, retains the magic from when it was a nonphysical location. The veil between the living and the dead is so thin that both chasers and brujos can assume virtual forms and communicate with the living. There’s a community of shape shifters. There are human tensions and needs. But here’s the synchro:
Wayra, the dog/wolf shape shifter who appeared in the first two books, now lives just outside the city, in a home that overlooks Esperanza. As a being that has been alive in one form or another since the late twelfth century, he has quite a collection of art. Charlie, a chaser, drops in to see Wayra…and I immediately wondered how the shifter’s house was decorated. So I Googled Ecuadorian artists and this is what came up first:
The similarities between the Ecuadorian alien piece I bought eight or ten years ago and this piece by Oswaldo Guayasamín floored me. Guayasamin, born in Quito in 1919, is apparently famous for his paintings depicting Andean people. According to this website, “He exposed racism, poverty, political oppression, and class division; common themes throughout the Andes. His work reflected the misery and pain that many people around the world had to experience in the 20th century. He spoke out often against the US and other governments. His work was exhibited around the world. A day of national strikes occurred at his death by indigenous people, who he spent his life supporting.”
Until now, I’d never heard of this artist. I haven’t been able to find out what this particular painting is called, but it’s so strikingly similar to the Ecuadorian alien that I suspect the artist whose work I bought was mimicking Guayasamín.
I poked around on this website for awhile and on this one and honestly wondered if Guayasamin was an abductee or if his creativity, his art, had enabled him to tune into something beyond his own experiences.This synchro is one of those that leaves me completely clueless about the meaning. Maybe it’s just an answer to the question I ask every time I pass my Ecuadorian alien en route from my office to the bedroom or back: What are you? Where did you come from? Why did I buy you and what can you teach me? Until tonight, I’d never heard of Guayasamin. Now he’s on my radar. I have no idea what that means, but I’m hopeful that something more will be revealed.
Cordial regards, we are of the Foundation Guayasamín of Quito – Ecuador.
The work that you bought in our country, is a homage of an artist of Imbabura, realized with petals of roses, based on Oswaldo Guayasamín’s paintings.
We share to you the links of our web sites, where you will be able to see more on Oswaldo Guayasamín’s work:
http://www.guayasamin.org
https://www.guayasamin.org/images/4_ov_18.jpg
http://www.capilladelhombre.com
https://www.qpqweb.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=69&Itemid=179
Thank you for writing back. You solved our mystery! Will check out all your links!
I came across this painting by Oswaldo Guayasamin where the eyes are so similar to your picture. They are quite haunting.
Wow, Mike, you’re right. The eyes are eerily similar!
Thanks to Gypsy for the information and links……..what a fascinating artist! I thought of Picasso’s Guernica a bit when I viewed his work. I agree with Gypsy…..duality does seem to be present in the work.
You and Gypsy know your art!
yes, definitely duality is rampant in these works – interesting that the dual-figure in guayasamin’s work has closed eyes while the gaston print has not only open eyes but eyes seeing in different ways – as i mentioned in my fb comment on this post, i am so smitten with this artist – guayasamin – his life – art – political activities – what an intriguing figure he is! a lot of his work very reminiscent of some of picasso’s – i also found it interesting that castro had written an acknowledgement of him/his work and the usa had condemned his work [surprise surprise] – well, at least one piece in particular – another intriguing thing about him – and there are many – is that on the date of his death – 03101999, a pre-inca archeological find was made – also an interesting numerical thing with him – his year of birth 1919 [july 6] and his year of death 1999 – his date of death is march 10 – very close to the date of this post – anyway, really interesting post – thanks so much for it!
Wow, gypsy, I didn’t see this about Castro. And no surprirse about the US condemning his stuff. And that’s fascinating about the numbers. What was the pre-inca find??
the find, according to one source, was a ship and i think 13 tombs – another source said 14 tombs [but of course one could have contained the ship] – i’ll find those links/sorry forgot to put up here – so we have souls transitioning/traveling to the other side – with this – there’s some good stuff on him at wikipedia – his political art/activism reminds me also of course of diego rivera – and the rockefeller center large mural he did that was subsequently destroyed by the government [usa] who hired him to do it in the first place –
well, had i clicked on your first site above i would have seen that it was wikipedia – here are several others – on his site there is a very brief mention of the archeological find and also there is mention of it at this other website:
https://www.capilladelhombre.com/
– archeological discovery
https://thetravelingbard.com/?p=777
there are also several things of him on youtube – he apparently met with and did at least one major portrait of castro, as well as princess caroline of monoco –
https://www.youtube.com/topic/zFjfb9iO3cM/oswaldo-guayasamn
i’ve not been able to find anything really definitive about the pre-inca find otherwise –
Thanks for the links. off to take a closer look.
I just left them a comment and the blog post.
Powerful work, both by your artist and Oswaldo Guayasamín. If this is my waking dream, I think I would wonder what these artists might add visually or conceptually to my work in progress. What strikes me in each portrait is that there seems to be a duality within the figure, almost like two faces pressed together, perhaps searching for something in the other.
Duality: I think there’s something to that in this story. Thanks for the interp, adelita.
I sure do like his church / temple / spaceship that is home to his art;
https://www.capilladelhombre.com/
But I have to say that his art is kind of creepy.
And talking about alien contact and his art reminds me of this banned creepy kids show where they meet an alien/angel;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wnm-YVibzoU&feature=related
Yeah, that structure is cool. I’ll check out that link, thanks!
Checked the dang box this time before I lose all my eloquence!
It’s very common for artists to be influenced by the work of other artists they admire. Oswaldo Guayasamín must have been famous in his country, and perhaps influenced many other artists to imitate his style or subject matter. Since the mouth in both paintings is identical, would say that it’s either by Guyasamin, or the artist was directly copying one of his pieces, perhaps the one you pulled up on the web. Your painting is powerful, the woman crying, the one eye that seems to look into a darkness or another dimension. Both paintings have hand gestures that appear almost like someone pressing agains a window, trying to look inside or communicate from the “outside”. I can’t help but wonder if the syncro is there, considering the subject matter of your book?
You may be right about the synchro, Lauren! The piece is signed by Gaston…There are gastons listed on the internet, but so far, none of them show this piece. I suspect you’re right, that gaston copied it!
OOPS. Drop that “s” on painting! Typo, as usual!
Great story, Trish. About the box asking if we are human….yep, I understand it’s to prevent spammers from being able to drop in. But, have you considered the SYNCHRO with it….that there are very likely some of us who may not BE truly human, but instead are alien offspring and are pulled to this space because it’s comfortable? Just a thought….the wording in that spam preventer strikes me as a kool synchro. 😉 BTW, Maybe your paintings was created by the same artist! Same soul, different life and timeframe. Something to ponder…..
Hadn’t though of that syncho, fortune, but how right you are!
This picture is amazing and arresting. How do you know it was not created by the same artist as the look-alike. And made of rose petals, no less!
I’m going to go look at the picture and see if it’s signed!
Dang! I keep forgetting to check the box that indicates I’m human…maybe something I need to figure out?! 🙂
Anyway, as I was saying…This is fascinating! It will be so interesting to find out where this synchro leads you. Are you sure that this piece in your living room isn’t a real Guayasamin? Maybe you are now one of those with the story that they picked up a piece of art just because it spoke to them in some way and now they own something way more exciting? Or was Guayasamin not known for using rose petals? If not, the artist who made it must have definitely been heavily influenced! I’ll have to take a closer look next time I am there!
We’re all aliens!