Souvenir

Souvenir at WVTF with New City Arts, Charlottesville, Virginia, July 2014

“Souvenir” is defined as both an object kept as a reminder of a place or event and as the act of remembrance itself. This series is a counter-atlas that navigates the spaces between memory and fiction; archive and erasure. While referencing botanical drawings, maps, and expeditions, the drawings in the exhibition obscure recognizable landmarks and shift perception. Repetitive mark making and patterning further reference the passage of time, ritual, and place.

Souvenir (figure 3d) photograph, acrylic and pencil on paper, 11x14", 2014

Souvenir (figure 3a) photograph, acrylic and pencil on paper, 11x14", 2014

"Ven aquí, Mario. Si vas a ser cazador es bueno que sepas lo que voy a decirte. El quetzal es un pájaro que no vive donde quiera. Sólo por el rumbo de Tziscao. Hace su nido en los troncos huecos de los árboles para no maltratar las plumas largas de la cola. Pues cuando las ve sucias o quebradas muere de tristeza. Y está siempre en lo alto. Para hacerlo bajar silbas así, imitando el reclamo de la hembra. El quetzal mueve la cabeza buscando la dirección de donde partió el silbido. Y luego vuela hacia allá. Es entonces cuando tienes que apuntar bien, al pecho del pájaro. Dispara. Cuando el quetzal se desplome, cógelo, arráncale las entrañas y rellénalo con una preparación especial queyo voy a darte, para disecarlo. Quedan como si estuvieran todavía vivos. Y se venden bien." 

"Come Here, Mario. If you want to be a hunter you should hear this. The quetzal is a bird that doesn’t live just anywhere. Only around Tziscao. It makes its nest in hollow tree trunks so as not to damage its lang tail feathers. Because if it sees them dirty or broken it dies of sadness. And it is always up high. In order to make it come down you whistle like this ,imitating the call of the female. The quetzal moves its head searching for the direction he whistle came from. And then it flies in that direction. That’s when you have to take good aim at the bird’s chest. Shoot. When the quetzal falls, grab it, pull out its guts and fill it with a special mixture that I’ll give you, to stuff it. They end up looking like they were still alive. And they sell well."

-Rosario Castellanos, Balún Canán (my translation to English)