The artistic path of the Colombian artist Marisol León travels from America to Africa and Europe to Colombia in search of the roots that join us. Her artwork is based on Pachamama’s (Mother Earth) symbolism, the sacred and archetypal feminine as well as the universal spiritual human being. Therefore, León’s journey develops from different territories, cultures, landscapes and experiences that have led her to recognize her role upon reflecting on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals such as Life on Land and Gender Equality.
Marisol León studied painting and sculpture at the School of Fine Arts in Bogotá. Once she finished her studies, she decided to travel to "discover the house - the world" between South America, Africa and Europe, without disconnecting from what she sowed. She travels and lives across the continents while she makes us discover different cultures that unite us.
"We are the trace of past and present that at each moment is already past... We are time leaving our traces testifying, sometimes as echoes of our unconscious that unites us through infinite times and spaces. Our lives, all lives, are continually footprints in the universe... But... the human being, he is and will also be the destroyer of his footprints?" said León on her artwork Traces.
León chooses to freely use all the techniques in her creations, giving birth to the force and essence of nature in its multiple dimensions. She goes from one artistic expression to another, from the figurative to the abstract and from the abstract to the surreal. Likewise, the artist uses different materials such as pigments, wood, fabrics, raffia and plow discs. These discs are the raw material for her artistic expresión as their concave and convex shape recreate the womb and the breast of the Pachamama. Thus, that diversity of techniques, materials and creative expressions answer the questions that start from understanding life and matter, while allowing the viewer to travel and experience a ritual around the sacred and feminine.
The thematic line that Marisol León seeks to share is an intimate vision of the Sacred that connects us with different ancestral cultures, expressing the feminine energy that lives there and that she calls a "sacred universal thread." This symbolism portrayed in her artworks are inspired by the Mother Earth goddess known as "Pachamama" in the Andean Culture and the "Mother Goddess" in the Sardinian culture. Likewise, the artist highlights that the goddesses shelter all the fundamental elements that govern us: water, earth, air and fire, as well as the energies of fertility, femininity, sexuality and spirituality. Therefore, the artist prompts to evoke an essential return to the "Source," "the sacred woman" and the connection between the human, nature and the cosmos.
The message to the world that Marisol wants to leave is to inspire self-love, love, fraternity, service and love for our Pachamama, the Earth Goddess that includes everything. For example, over the years, she has been sowing energy and consciousness through “ the Pachamama” as a legacy in her artistic works through the circle, representing unity, community and origin.
Overall, Marisol León’s artwork calls us to the essence, the pure and the sensitive. She emphasizes that we are Beings permeated by feminine power, symbols, archetypes, our territory and the land, which gestate culture and life. Besides, her journey exhibits the similarities of many communities of rooting ourselves with the Earth and water, mainly because, from there, we nourish ourselves with her energy, we move forward, heal and awaken consciousness.
If you are more interested in learning about Marisol León's artwork, visit her exhibitions on Bolivianet, a contemporary art online page.