There are many ways of being in the world, as well as many worlds gathered into one.According to Carlos Papa, filmmaker and spiritual leader of the Guarani Mbya people, consciousness and wisdom reside in the dark, as one comes from the dark at birth and returns to it at death. In alignment with this worldview, which opposes the dualistic thinking of light versus shadow, good versus evil, heaven versus hell, Adriana Ciudad draws from her inner most depths to infuse her work with the knowledge she has found in the darkness.

It is precisely in this dark space that the artist has established a safe place to discuss the act of “bringing light” (giving birth),emphasizing that neither she nor anyone else who experiences such an event will ever be the same again. Birth occupies the intersection of the deeply personal and the collective, where it can be understood as both a life-giving anda life-ending experience. After becoming a mother, Ciudad began working with achiote on sheets, associating the pictorial significance of this sacred plant with the blood of childbirth.Blood, as Ana Mendieta aptly described, is “the most essential substance of life.”

This blood, the fluid that flows month after month from the vulva, emerges from the uterine darkness to signal that the body is ready to generate new life, a process that inevitably brings about new death. Once again, one is never the same after giving birth, just as one is never the same after burying the person who gave them life. Having experienced both,Adriana Ciudad delves into the darkness to compose three poems interpreted in a video by three different characters representing the notions of daughter, mother, and woman. These personas weave the strands of the braid that forms the artist’s current sense of self, but they are not confined to her alone. On the contrary, the poems resonate with anyone who identifies with these characters or empathizes with them.

Created in collaboration with filmmaker Camilo Prince and performed by actresses Mónica Lopera, Marcela Benjumea, and Angela Cano, these video-poems remind us that while the love for a mother or the experience of motherhood is often synonymous with unconditional love, these relationships can also be interwoven with anger, exhaustion, and pain.Space is thus opened for other emotions, often locked away in the darkest corners.

Emerging from the depths, Adriana Ciudad’s artistic production reveals a profound courage—one that rises from the inner most recesses of her being and surfaces as poetic and visual language. With the aid of sacred plants, she nurtures her physical and spiritual body to attain the wisdom to feel her own shadow.Here is an artist who creates remedies for her own wounds while simultaneously sharing the path of courage for those who need to create their own remedies. 

Paula Borghi

Terra Una, janeiro de 2025