HUIPIL AS ENIGMA
In an upcoming exhibition at Sol y Luna Contemporary Gallery in Puerto Vallarta, the image of the huipil takes center stage. Opening January 28, 2009, it is titled “Enigmas,” because that is what huipils are for me.
They are beauty, they are secrets, they are treasures, they are holy, in that it is said the goddesses reveal the weaving process in dreams, they are mundane in that they are part of the every day existence of a culture. Having gone from an aesthetic appreciation of them to an obsession about their meaning, I know that never in this lifetime will I understand all the designs whispered within their threads. This problem is not mine alone; information originally woven into huipils by indigenous peoples had to be hidden, especially if it related to their religion, agriculture, astronomy, and other sciences. With the Spanish conquest, all knowledge of such things was to be obliterated, and as with all conquests, a cover up had to be devised so that the traditions not be lost. In a patriarchal society that has continued to cover up not only the significance of these magical garments, but also the women who weave them, I strive in my art to shine a light on both.
They are beauty, they are secrets, they are treasures, they are holy, in that it is said the goddesses reveal the weaving process in dreams, they are mundane in that they are part of the every day existence of a culture. Having gone from an aesthetic appreciation of them to an obsession about their meaning, I know that never in this lifetime will I understand all the designs whispered within their threads. This problem is not mine alone; information originally woven into huipils by indigenous peoples had to be hidden, especially if it related to their religion, agriculture, astronomy, and other sciences. With the Spanish conquest, all knowledge of such things was to be obliterated, and as with all conquests, a cover up had to be devised so that the traditions not be lost. In a patriarchal society that has continued to cover up not only the significance of these magical garments, but also the women who weave them, I strive in my art to shine a light on both.
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