This little thing is for artist friend Valeria Montti Colque, whose works have long fascinated me.
They are the sum of life and death, joy and sadness -- all tied together in a festive, happily undiplomatic manner with shining beads and seas of bric-a-brac. It all looks rather pre-Columbian. (My mind is brought instantly to Día de los Muertos and such celebrations, when the underworld comes visiting to our floor.)
She does paint and draw, but it is the live installations that are truly breathtaking. Or what about a figure who is wearing two skates as feet, then a suit from which a lot of teddy bears and other furries grow; the chest is an old wall cabinet and the head, finally, is a grinning skull; all decorated with bright colours and garlands etc. etc.?
I hope that I've been able to capture just a little of her Magic Surrealism. I find no better name for it.
