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The sky as a limit. Fernanda Olivares

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Left: Me as a “Voladora” learning to climb 108 ft long
Right: Traditional Mexican Ritual Dance ” Los Voladores” (The flyers) Oil painting. 2019 35×42 in

When I started painting, my subjects were ballet dancers, thinking how we push our limits beyond posibilities anatomically speaking. As a classical dancer, I can tell that our body always can do more than we think. That idea is something I always intend to show in my work.

I was drawn by the social implications of dance in our community. As Mexican born, we possess a wide variety of prehispanic ritual dances that are still practiced in certain communities. One of the better known and iconic in our culture is “The Voladores” or The Flyers Dance. This ritual originally comes from the Puebla- Veracruz area; it is dedicated to fertility, the sun and has symbolisms in every single part of the aesthetics, choreography, numbers, temporality and costumes.

My main question was: What rituals do we have in the contemporary world? How do we connect with that energy? So I decided to get in touch with a group of Flyers from Cuetzalan, Puebla for creating this new series of paintings based on the different temporalities of the ritual. I am grateful for their hospitality and trust for teaching me how to fly. I learned that facing our fears and overcoming the unknown is something we should take as a valuable lesson. In the next posts, I´ll show more of this series, as well as the story behind this dance and how can we learn from this ancestral practices.

4 Comments
  1. Liza Ordinartceva
    June 25, 2020

    The Voladores ritual and the philosophy behind it sounds so intriguing! So looking forward to the next posts!

    Reply
    1. Avatar photo
      Fernanda Olivares
      July 13, 2020

      Thank you Liza, it´s sure quite a mystical experience from local folklore. I was very lucky for being accepted by voladores as capable of entering the ritual, usually boys and girls are prepared for it since they are 12 or 13 years old. Actually, this ritual is not allowed for women in certain regions of the country. Sure,bravery is needed for it! I´ll write more about it in my next posts

      Reply
  2. Avatar photo
    Nazar Niazmetov
    June 26, 2020

    Thank you for sharing!
    It turned out to be a complete work with a harmonious combination of shades. It seems to me that it is not easy to transmit the bright light of day. The tree is particularly striking. Is the work inspired by a specific photo?

    How did you go down: by jumping off and sliding on the insurance?

    Reply
    1. Avatar photo
      Fernanda Olivares
      July 13, 2020

      Thank you Nazar! I work with photo references but not with a specific one, I modify the colors a lot as you can see. Every color and hue is different, so I don´t usually use a traditional limited palette based on the photos.
      I jumped off! (No ensurance, but only relied on being properly tied and the dancers´experience)

      Reply
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