When I started painting I was moved by an impulse which I did not understand, but recognized as its own. In artistic creation I have always liked to be surprised for the unusual past, so incomprehensible, the occult, which dwells in my genetic code as a primary molecular dance which I do not resist.
To resist the creative impulse for fear of not knowing how to define it, or not to move in this direction would be like cutting my veins and letting my blood drain in the sewer of modernity. When I have the books on MesoAmerican archeology and anthropology in my hands, memories of the future and dreams of the past arrived. Here I find the voice of my dear teacher and poet Manlio Argueta in El Salvador, my dear activist and spiritual guide Marina Molina in Guatemala, the juggling of boys and girls in the street circus of Granada, the magic stones of Longo Mai in San Isidro de El General and the secret river that Anayenci Herrera cares with zeal in Liberia.
The power of the Rainforest Region will be returned with rivers and hurricanes when the birds stop their singing and the ceibas stop blooming. I want to be here to see that, to see the final balance. I want the paradise that I inherited and that belong to us; the paradise we named in childhood, when it rained forever.
Guadalupe Urbina Noviembre 1, 2007
Guadalupe Urbina’s paintings are available to museums and galleries interested in exploring pre-columbian archetypal ancestral memories, as well as the vibrant rainforest, active volcanoes and the unique animals of Costa Rica and Central America through the original work of her paintings, poetry and songs.
THESE PAINTINGS, THIS PAPER & MY PAPER
I work with the beautiful mango papers, snuff, tamarind, rice, vegetables and newspapers. Papers that are gently kneaded by the hands of papermakers from the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan and India. Papers kneaded by the hands of women, girls and boys who have the wisdom of conservation. My papers reflect the tropical paradises on our planet, and they smell like cashew, sancochado rice, fish and roasted tomato sauce and chiles.
In general paintings use canvas, because it promises long life to the artwork. Yet the wise people of Asia make their art on sacred handmade paper, and many of them have survived for centuries.
My paintings are born from the bottom of all of my suffering and all of my felt failures experienced through life threatening health issues and the healing process. By painting through these experiences I have been able to touch the center of my heart and soul, to reach my sense of paradise holding the hands of my children Angelo and Antonio. Here is childhood, mine and theirs, forever. Living each day, whether today or tomorrow; eating and enjoying and flying when the sky is wide and open. My paintings are illustrations of stories I wrote in honor of my daughter-that someday she will share with you. They open to the gods and goddesses who inhabit everything around me. They cry out for the paradise that is not a myth, that is not lost; but is relentless in its path even though we have not respected their rules. In my paintings I asks forgiveness for humanity, for the fallen trees and the injured birds. I asks forgiveness for our unbridled ambition.
I am pleased to unleash the joy of being alive, and to reach for death consciously, as the biggest celebration that life can bring. I want to paint life, painting these havens that we must learn to bring death within, while we prepare to rest and enjoy the metamorphosis.
Guadalupe Urbina June 2008
