Viva Paredes: Ceremonias Nocturnas

3rd Floor gallery, Namaste Hall, Rooftop

Ceremonias Nocturnas: Another Way of Seeing

Viva Paredes

The earth gives us everything we need to survive. We have gone so far away from nature and its possibilities, that we are destroying ourselves and all the gifts of the gods.

At the intersection of mythology, ethno-botany, art and spirituality, Viva Paredes explores and celebrates the work of Mexican curandera, María Sabina, who has been called, “The greatest visionary poet of the 20th century in Latin America.”(citation?) Responding to the appropriation and commercialization of the spiritual practices in curanderismo and shamanic healing, Paredes went in search of the authentic voice of this great healer. Believing it her destiny to be “discovered” by outsiders, Sabina also understood that their impulse to get high rather than healed diminished the spiritual power of los santos niños. With this exhibit Paredes pays tribute to the curandera’s insights into the sacred.

A Bay Area native, Viva Paredes studied at California College of the Arts with an emphasis in sculpture, utilizing primarly natural materials. Paredes's art has been included in group exhibitions throughout the U.S. and México.