Agua y Vida
Part of the “Arte Emboscado” project of the Tormes EB Foundation.
Salamanca, Spain.
28 x 9 m
2023
This mural is inspired by traditional Salamanca embroidery. It shows a large animal figure, in the shape of a Bull or Cow, from whose extremities sprout numerous plants and birds. This figure is taken as a symbol of fertility and life, attracting water through its connection with the Moon. At the sides two couples of peasants dressed in the traditional Charro costume raise their hands towards the figure as a sign of gratitude and adoration.
Agua y Vida (Water and Life) is a tribute to farmers that functions as a call for rain.
With this work, the artist seeks to pay a well-deserved tribute to the creators of the landscape, those who feed us, those who cultivate knowledge, knowledge of the land and preserve traditions. It also functions as a Ritual Mural, making a call for rain through the intention put into the act of painting and the elements represented. This concept is inspired by different traditions such as the Stick Dances, the Masquerades, the May and others, understood in their origin as fertility rites, associated with solar cycles. The lack of rain this past year has been and is going crucial, something that the countryside and people in the rural world are suffering firsthand.
A 6-meter-high dancing animal figure, in the shape of a bull or cow, presides over the mural, alluding to the animals that are protagonists of the farm. This animal is taken here as a symbol of fertility, as in multiple traditions of Mediterranean cultures. The horns are shaped like a moon, emphasizing their relationship with cycles and as a symbol of fertility. Plants sprout from the extremities in multiple directions, all of them associated with the crops on the farm itself and with wild plants from the banks of the Tormes River, where the mural is located. Large drops of water fall from the sky, like rain, caused by the Dance of the Animal, materializing its intention. Its body is covered with symbolic patterns alluding to the environment and the purpose of the work itself.
On a formal level, the mural is inspired by traditional Salamanca embroidery and its semi-mythological figures. On the sides, two couples dressed in the traditional Charro costume of the province of Salamanca raise their hands towards this large animal figure in gratitude for the rain. A legend within the mural serves to explain the meaning of the different plants and patterns represented.
Several months later there was heavy rain that caused the Tormes River to overflow, which is 200m from the farm.