Stig-Mata

For generations, communities around the world have cultivated intimate, reciprocal relationships with medicinal plants, deeply linked with spiritual transcendence, health, memory, and identity. Yet these same plants, once central to collective well-being and knowledge systems, have been systematically demonized, extracted, and commodified. This body of work investigates the historic and ongoing stigmatization of ancestral plant medicine as a means of social control, beginning with colonial invasions and extending into the structures of pharmaceutical power and academic gatekeeping.

This exhibition traces the suppression of botanical knowledge as a tool of domination, where plants were not only outlawed, but their keepers silenced and exploited. From the labeling of sacred medicines as “witchcraft,” to the corporate patenting of traditional remedies, these works reflect on how entire epistemologies were discredited to centralize authority, extract resources, and disrupt cultural continuity.

Through a hybrid of materials, symbols, and research, I reclaim the aesthetic and spiritual presence of these plants, honoring the wisdom carriers, who have risked and continue to risk persecution, for safeguarding their healing traditions. This is not just about plants; it is about power, ancestral memory, and the survival of entire worldviews.

Through my art, I want to invite viewers to look beyond fear and stereotypes and to see these plants and fungi in a new light, one that respects their cultural roots and recognizes their healing properties, rightfully crediting the knowledge of the communities that have been protecting them and using them correctly for centuries. It’s about remembering what was lost, challenging who gets to decide what is “legitimate”, and celebrating the resilience of  first nations and ancestral knowledge.

Brugmansia aurea/ Golden Angel’s Trumpet / Borrachero / Floripondio (2025)
Various yarns over tufting backing and felt
30” x 23.75” x 0.75”

Mandragora officinarum / Mandrake / Mandrágora (2025)

Various yarns over tufting backing and felt

27.25” x 18” x 0.75”

Papaver somniferum / Poppy / Amapola (2025)
Various yarns over tufting backing and felt
27.75” x 12.25” 1”

Datura metel/ Thorn Apple / Devil’s Trumpet / Burladora (2025)
Various yarns over tufting backing and felt
29” x 16” x 0.75”

Amanita muscaria / Fly Acaric / Matamoscas (2025)
Various yarns over tufting backing and felt
21” x 10” x 0.75”

Trichocereus pachanoi/ San Pedro / Wuachuma (2025)
Various yarns over tufting backing and felt
29” x 14.25” x 0.75"

Claviceps purpurea / Ergot / Cornezuelo (2025)
Various yarns over tufting backing and felt
29” x 7” x 0.75”

Salvia divinorum / Diviners Sage / Maria Pastora / Menta Mágica (2025)
Various yarns over tufting backing and felt
26” x 18” x 0.75”

Tabernanthe iboga / Sacred Wood / Bois Sacré (2025)
Various yarns over tufting backing and felt
27” x 11” x 0.75”

Cannabis sativa / Marijuana / Ganja (2025)
Various yarns over tufting backing and felt
21” x 19” x 0.75”

Brugmansia sanguinea / Red Angel’s Trumpet / Cacao Sabanero / Floripondio (2025)
Various yarns over tufting backing and felt
28” x 15” x 0.75”

Ipomoea tricolor / Morning Glory / Tlililtzin (2025)

Various yarns over tufting backing and felt

23.5” x 21” x 0.75”

Ficus trigona/ Renaco/ Soul of the Rainforest (2025)
Digital Illustration for Vinyl

Evil Spirits Out: Resistance and Ancestral Medicine

This body of work was created during my artist residency at PAC. These works are the outcome of my research about ancestral medicine in the Americas and my inquiry about past and present colonial practices around indigenous sacred plants.

Things Go Better with Coke (2023)

48" x 48"

Acrylics over canvas

Di-vine Wisdom of the Rain Forest (2023)

48" x 48"

Acrylics over canvas

Niñas Santas (2023)

48" x 48"

Acrylics over canvas

Caterpillar Cocoon (2023)

48" x 48"

Acrylics over canvas

Vine of the Soul (2023)

24" x 24"

Acrylics over canvas

Coca (2023

19" x 13"

Collage (Art paper over Canson.)

Kuka (2023)

19" x 13"

Collage (Art paper over Canson.)

Teotlnanácatl (2023)

19" x 13"

Collage (Art paper over Canson.)

Ayawaska (2023)

19" x 13"

Collage (Art paper over Canson.)

Stoned Mushroom I (2023)

15" x 7" x 7" (approx.)

Mixed media on repurposed mushroom.

Stoned Mushroom Il (2023)

16" x 7" x 7" (approx.)

Mixed media on repurposed mushroom.

Stoned Mushroom Il (2023)

15" x 7 x 7" (approx.)

Mixed media on repurposed mushroom.

Stoned Mushroom IV (2023)

8" x 5" x 5" (approx.)

Mixed media over ceramic.

Stoned Mushroom V (2023)

8" x 5" x 5" (approx.)

Mixed media over repurposed mushroom.

PAC Art Residency (2023)

Not One of Us

The ongoing violation of indigenous rights, coupled with the exploitation of their land by colonial and capitalist practices, has resulted in the devastation of the natural environment. Throughout history, animals and plants have been invaluable assets, contributing to the exoticization of various regions. Indigenous communities worldwide serve as guardians of natural resources, and their displacement from their ancestral lands inevitably leads to the suffering of animals and vegetation.

“Not One of Us” intends to confront the complex relationship between colonialism and migration. The series “Runners” depicts refugees from diverse origins and their journeys, honoring those who seek refuge in a better future. The term “runner” refers both to individuals who flee and long narrow rugs used to connect hallways, symbolizing the role of refugees as connectors of cultures and places from around the globe.

In contrast to the fiber art pieces, the project includes a series of paintings titled “Forasteros,” the Spanish term for foreigners. These works explore historical and contemporary manifestations of colonialism, prompting viewers to contemplate the dynamics between first-world visitors to third or newly established countries and the influx of immigrants to the first world.

Beyond these works, the project also includes two welcome rugs, representing my home city and country (Bogotá, Colombia) and additionally, several small latch-hooked rugs depicting endemic and endangered species from various countries, primarily from regions with significant emigration patterns. 

Pathway to Rafah Crossing (2024)

Tufted tapestry, variety of yarns over rug backing and fiber trim

65.5” x 30.75”

Portrays two Palestinian women on their way  to  Rafah  Crossing which is  the  only  crossing point  to

Egypt from Gaza. It also shows an ancient olive tree being destroyed by bombing as it symbolizes their

deep connection to their land and their heritage.

Diaspora (2023)

Hand Tufted Tapestry, variety of yarns over burlap

51.5” x 29”

Rio Grande (2022)

Hand Tufted Tapestry, variety of yarns over rug backing and pompom trim

66” x 30.5”

Portrays a Guatemalan Woman and her family crossing the Rio Grande.

Pathway to Poland (2022)

Tufted Tapestry, variety of yarns over rug backing and ribbons

70.5” x 30”

Portrays an Ukrainian woman trying to flee from the claws of a bear that represents Russia. She is also trying to hold on to her culture and roots represented by the Nightingale, one of Ukraine’s national birds.

Camino del Orinoco (2022)

Tufted Tapestry, variety of yarns over rug backing, feathers and tassel trim

70” x 31”

Portrays a Warao girl from Venezuela. The Warao poeple live along the delta of the Orinoco river.

Central Mediterranean Route (2022)

Latch Hooked Tapestry, variety of fibers over rug backing and golden fringe trim

62” x 29”

Portrays a boy coming from the Northern part of Africa mostly Libya to Italy.

Eastern Mediterranean Route (2022)

Tufted Tapestry, variety of yarns over rug backing and fringe trim

65” x 31”

Portrays an Assyrian father with his child. Assyrian People from Syria and Iraq.

Golden Crescent (2022)

Tufted Tapestry, variety of yarns over rug backing and handmade fringe.

69.75” x 30” 

Portrays an Afghan woman at a refugee camp. Golden Crescent is the name of the moon shaped peripheral mountain area between several countries, in which opium production and trafficking is taken place. It is also one of the common routes that migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran usually have to take to flee their countries. 

Silk Road (2023)

Tufted Tapestry, variety of yarns over rug backing and faux fur.

29.5” x 67”

Portrays two Kazakh teens fleeing from Xinjiang, China through the tundra.

Pathway to Kangaten (2022)

Tufted Tapestry, variety of yarns over rug backing and glass beads.

66.5” x 30”

Portrays three women from South Sudan on their way to Kangaten, Ethiopia, one of the places where Toposa tribe people flee to.

Deadly Trails (2023)

Tufted Tapestry, variety of yarns over rug backing and fiber trim.

30” x 11’

An homage to those who have died on their journeys in search of a better home, this tapestry portrays people from diverse origins depicted as Chancay dolls, which are funerary figures made by the Chancay people, a culture from Peru that disappeared centuries ago.

Mzungu (2021)

Acrylics over canvas.

30” x 48”

Mzungu is used to refer to white people in Swahili speaking countries an it meanswanderer in Bantu.

Shetani Mwepe (2023)

Acrylics over canvas

48” x 36”

Shetani Mwepe means “White Devil” in Swahili.

Wasichu (2023)

Acrylics over canvas.

48” x 30”

Wasichu means “The taker of the fat or greedy one” in Lakota.

Gringo (2021)

Acrylics over canvas,

30” x 48”

Gringo is used to refer to white foreigner in Latin America.

Welcome to Bogotá (2022)

Latch hooked tapestry

20” x 29”

Welcome to Colombia (2022)

Latch hooked tapestry

20” x 29”

Our Land (2022)

Latch-hooked rugs

9” x 9”

(In order from left to right) Boto (Amazonas), Peacock Spider, (Australia), Mountain Tapir (Colombia), Flyer Catcher (Guatemala), Greater Lophorina (Papua New Guinea), Mandrill (West Central Africa), Saiga Antilope (Afghanistan), Axolotl (Mexico), Ili Pika (Jilimalale Mountain, Tianshan Mountains, China or Mountains of Heaven, Kazakh Region), Northern White Rhinoceros (South Sudan), Pangolin (South Sudan), Venezuelan Turpial (Venezuela).