La Divina Kwan Yin

A thread you may have noticed running through these portraits of la familia, was la Divina Kwan Yin who ended up joining us on so many excursions that she became another member of la Familia crew. 

Kwan Yin, or Guaynin, is a Buddhist deity associated with compassion and mercy.  Here in the sculpture that Mauro had on his shelf at home, Kwan Yin is represented as a female but apparently at various times and in various cultures has been represented as a man or as androgynous.  When we were working with her is Parque Coll someone else thought they recognised her as the Goddess of music, which would have been apt for that day as in the background there were plenty musicians playing, in the line-up for a meeting about the environment and water issues facing the region as a result of the local mines.

The Divina became a part of our group after I overheard Felipe asking Mauro about why she still wasn’t painted, and him saying he hadn’t yet had the time.  I wondered at that point if as a present to Mauro and the house in return for having me stay, that they would be interested in me getting the paints and collaborating in painting her. Daniela was excited by idea of painting her in stop-motion in various sites around the town hence capturing the day-to-day life of la Serena in the background as time-lapse style documentation..and so the project began... ! 

 

Site 1:  Stop-motion of the base-layer of glue at the Saturday market outside 831, meeting Hernan and the curiosity of number of shoppers.

Site 2: Time-lapse of la Divina enjoying the sunset at Playa Toto – the night of the not-quite-Guinness-bean-stew cooked on the bonfire with Daniela, Mauro, Christian and his friend,.  It was at the end of this shoot that a wave got her, and in carrying her home wrapped in a sandy blanket she became so covered in sand that Daniela and I spent as many hours cleaning her as I’d spent painting the first base layer.

Site 3: Colour stop-motion in Parque Coll, listening to the music, poetry and talks from participants uniting to voice environmental concerns and spread information about the damage the mines are causing.  A musician Manuel came and joined in the collaboration between Mauro Felipe, Daniela and me.

Site 4:  the dogs and skaters in the background of Avenida Aguirre.  

Site 5: Rooftop of 831 for sunrise, layering on the final coating of glue, watching the sunrise from the mist of the sea!

The song the video is set to was recorded at the Saturday fruit and veg market on the same morning I took the first stop-motion.  A lady with an amazing voice was busking slowly through the crowds, singing with a deep and powerful voice.  Jose tells me the song is a Mexican ‘ranchero’ song – that is, a Mexican country song, which are apparently so popular here in Chile there is a radio station dedicated to them.

What a great additional spirit to have had join us in the week, and with the seed in her hand, the lotus she sits on and her emerging luscious green colouring over the course of the shoot, la Divina seemed to become more and more connected to the issues of the environment in my mind.  Her greenery seems to suggest fertility, and her blues water, so the opposite of the generally dry arid atmosphere of northern Chile, she seems a lush oasis!

Thanks for collaborating Divina, and for the further reflections you have provoked about water and agricultural fertility in this section.  And thanks to the Familia for their collaboration too: Felipe, Daniela,  Mauro, y Manuel (un nuevo!)

:-)