My GRACIA stay was beyond amazing!
Not knowing much about Antigua - or Guatemala at all - I went on a two-week stay in this artistic city.
The idea was to learn about the place through the art and the artists, especially the women. I was amazed by the local Grita exhibition of Regina Jose Galindo, a feminist activist without compromising her values. Along with the violent volcanoes around the city and Fuego's calm eruptions during the days and the variety of crafts among the women, I was at home.
I was introduced to dyeing with local plants on Guatemalan cotton, and later also to weaving in the Antiguan style.
The choice of these media was partly deliberate and partly accidental. In the process, I realized that these mediums forced me to slow down and take the necessary time. With painting and drawing, it is both tempting and easy to speed up the process, but not with weaving and dyeing, and I loved how the slowness integrated into me. This is how my artistic work progresses; more femininity, but also much more time and subtle softness.
