There is a loud stillness in the air, and the reverberating whistling memories of those summers submerge me into the past. The thin mountain air of the Ecuadorian Andes and the calling of the wind intone with, the primordial calling of the horn and the singing of harvest ritual song of the indigenous people. After graduating college I was hired to join a field research project sponsored by the Institute of Cultural Patrimony of Ecuador (a branch of the Ecuadorian government) as a photographer, painter and translator. Mario Godoy Aguirre was the creator, head historical researcher and musicologist, of this project. The project recovered and documented the ritual harvest songs of the Andean Indigenous communities of Chimborazo, Ecuador. These songs date back at least 500 years in Ecuadorian history and were in danger of disappearing.

      As my personal reaction to the fieldwork project I created “Colors & Textures of the Jahuay,” a twenty painting series exhibition, that represents the different key participants of the Jahuay, while chronologically narrating the different parts of the ritual. My paintings and photographs explore the humanistic, cultural aspects of the indigenous Andean people of Ecuador.. The fieldwork was completed in the summer of 2012. I have shown the Jahuay series in seven solo exhibitions from 2013 to 2015, six in Ecuador, and one in Hungary. 

   This series  enabled me to learn first hand about my indigenous roots, since my maternal grandmother was of  indigenous descent , of the Puruah people  of this area. As such learning about this  ritual gave me great insight into what my grandmother lived  through during the time she was forced to  work for one of the largest hacienda owners ( as a cook)  of Chimborazo Province, where  this song  comes from. She died when  I was only 12 and I barey got to know her. But seeing and hearing the songs ( which were later translatated to spanish), I got to learn  invaluable knowledge  about my heritage. 

This portfolio is the first half of tht series

         There is a loud stillness in the air, and the reverberating whistling memories of those summers submerge me into the past. The thin mountain air of the Ecuadorian Andes and the calling of the wind intone with, the primordial calling of the horn and the singing of harvest ritual song of the indigenous people. After graduating college I was hired to join a field research project sponsored by the Institute of Cultural Patrimony of Ecuador (a branch of the Ecuadorian government) as a photographer, painter and translator. Mario Godoy Aguirre was the creator, head historical researcher and musicologist, of this project. The project recovered and documented the ritual harvest songs of the Andean Indigenous communities of Chimborazo, Ecuador. These songs date back at least 500 years in Ecuadorian history and were in danger of disappearing.

      As my personal reaction to the fieldwork project I created “Colors & Textures of the Jahuay,” a twenty painting series exhibition, that represents the different key participants of the Jahuay, while chronologically narrating the different parts of the ritual. My paintings and photographs explore the humanistic, cultural aspects of the indigenous Andean people of Ecuador.. The fieldwork was completed in the summer of 2012. I have shown the Jahuay series in seven solo exhibitions from 2013 to 2015, six in Ecuador, and one in Hungary. 

   This series  enabled me to learn first hand about my indigenous roots, since my maternal grandmother was of  indigenous descent , of the Puruah people  of this area. As such learning about this  ritual gave me great insight into what my grandmother lived  through during the time she was forced to  work for one of the largest hacienda owners ( as a cook)  of Chimborazo Province, where  this song  comes from. She died when  I was only 12 and I barey got to know her. But seeing and hearing the songs ( which were later translatated to spanish), I got to learn  invaluable knowledge  about my heritage. 
This is the second half of this series.

As a native to Riobamba Ecuador, growing up in the United States, exploring my cultural heritage has become an integral part of my art. I worked in a research project for the Institute of Cultural Patrimony in Ecuador from 2012 to 2014, whose goal was to document and help preserve the Jahuay harvest ritual song that was in danger of disappearing.
    The (Supay) Riobambeñean devil is unique to the Chimborazo Province of Ecuador. I fell in love with this character when I first took pictures of them in the 2012 at Three Kings Day parade. I am currently in the early stages of research of my project. I have some paintings for my series. I have been culturally familiar with this figure for the past 10 years, but I want to uncover its historical origins, through my art and research. The past few years I have realized that the paintings need a complementary part to clarify the culturally secular aspect of this character, through illustrated stories. I want to research any unclear and overlapping beliefs of this figure in the Christian religion with the cosmological indigenous beliefs. 
   The stories will explore themes of human duality.  One of the stories will center on how this character was (is) thought to be the spiritual guide that choose who to bless within the community to become a musician or a crafter. I seek to express this mischievous/spiritual creative guide that it represents for the indigenous / mestizo culture in Riobamba. In addition to why it is considered a guardian of the people, as someone who keeps the peace during the Christmas parades. I also want to uncover the mysteries that surround the origin of this character within the community. Finally I want to publish a book of stories and exhibit my painting series. 
 

I seek to portray the faces of my ancestors, the indigenous people of the Chimborazo Province of Ecuador,  also known as the Puruhá people, from which my maternal grandmother originated. These paintings came from candid photographs I took of different Puruhá communities in 2012. My bright color palette mirrors the bright clothing colors the Puruha are characterized by. Starting with the red ponchos specifically allude to the accessorial legacy of resistance and rebellions that the indigenous people were and are currently known for, while bright pinks and magentas are very characteristic of the women of the  Puruhá people. Their bright colors are a testament to their history and mine. 
     I choose to represent the Puruhá people to connect with my grandmother's roots which she scarcely taught her children about it. Indigenous people in Ecuador and most parts of the world have been historically marginalized. My grandmother knew that and wanted to protect her children from it. She choose not to teach most of her children the Quichua language so they wouldn’t be discriminated against. 
   The Puruhá culture is rich in its colors and its unique knowledge passed down through oral tradition, like that of music. The Puruhá people are responsible for creating Jahuay (musical genre) harvest ritual song that dates back at least 500 years. I participated in a project which documented this. That project led to the images for my paintings in this series. These paintings are an homage to this group of people who are historically responsible for fighting the injustice of governments even to this day. The "Ponchos rojos"(red ponchos) uprisings helped eradicate the abuses that indigenous people suffered at the hands of colonizers and their decedents. The figures are alone because they are puzzle pieces of each other's communities. The puzzle pieces are also a metaphor for the artist's ancestry lineage, which is a mystery due to what little the family knows of her grandmother’s family. The subjects in the paintings become a part of the artist and the viewer who perceives them because they are no longer invisible. Our bonds to other humans remain broken when we ignore or refuse to preserve the common humanity and beauty that exist in those “different" from ourselves.  

  I seek to portray the faces of my ancestors, the indigenous people of the Chimborazo Province of Ecuador,  also known as the Puruhá people, from which my maternal grandmother originated. These paintings came from candid photographs I took of different Puruhá communities in 2012. My bright color palette mirrors the bright clothing colors the Puruha are characterized by. Starting with the red ponchos specifically allude to the accessorial legacy of resistance and rebellions that the indigenous people were and are currently known for, while bright pinks and magentas are very characteristic of the women of the  Puruhá people. Their bright colors are a testament to their history and mine. 
     I choose to represent the Puruhá people to connect with my grandmother's roots which she scarcely taught her children about it. Indigenous people in Ecuador and most parts of the world have been historically marginalized. My grandmother knew that and wanted to protect her children from it. She choose not to teach most of her children the Quichua language so they wouldn’t be discriminated against. 
   The Puruhá culture is rich in its colors and its unique knowledge passed down through oral tradition, like that of music. The Puruhá people are responsible for creating Jahuay (musical genre) harvest ritual song that dates back at least 500 years. I participated in a project which documented this. That project led to the images for my paintings in this series. These paintings are an homage to this group of people who are historically responsible for fighting the injustice of governments even to this day. The "Ponchos rojos"(red ponchos) uprisings helped eradicate the abuses that indigenous people suffered at the hands of colonizers and their decedents. The figures are alone because they are puzzle pieces of each other's communities. The puzzle pieces are also a metaphor for the artist's ancestry lineage, which is a mystery due to what little the family knows of her grandmother’s family. The subjects in the paintings become a part of the artist and the viewer who perceives them because they are no longer invisible. Our bonds to other humans remain broken when we ignore or refuse to preserve the common humanity and beauty that exist in those “different" from ourselves.  

  I seek to portray the faces of my ancestors, the indigenous people of the Chimborazo Province of Ecuador,  also known as the Puruhá people, from which my maternal grandmother originated. These paintings came from candid photographs I took of different Puruhá communities in 2012. My bright color palette mirrors the bright clothing colors the Puruha are characterized by. Starting with the red ponchos specifically allude to the accessorial legacy of resistance and rebellions that the indigenous people were and are currently known for, while bright pinks and magentas are very characteristic of the women of the  Puruhá people. Their bright colors are a testament to their history and mine. 
     I choose to represent the Puruhá people to connect with my grandmother's roots which she scarcely taught her children about it. Indigenous people in Ecuador and most parts of the world have been historically marginalized. My grandmother knew that and wanted to protect her children from it. She choose not to teach most of her children the Quichua language so they wouldn’t be discriminated against. 
   The Puruhá culture is rich in its colors and its unique knowledge passed down through oral tradition, like that of music. The Puruhá people are responsible for creating Jahuay (musical genre) harvest ritual song that dates back at least 500 years. I participated in a project which documented this. That project led to the images for my paintings in this series. These paintings are an homage to this group of people who are historically responsible for fighting the injustice of governments even to this day. The "Ponchos rojos"(red ponchos) uprisings helped eradicate the abuses that indigenous people suffered at the hands of colonizers and their decedents. The figures are alone because they are puzzle pieces of each other's communities. The puzzle pieces are also a metaphor for the artist's ancestry lineage, which is a mystery due to what little the family knows of her grandmother’s family. The subjects in the paintings become a part of the artist and the viewer who perceives them because they are no longer invisible. Our bonds to other humans remain broken when we ignore or refuse to preserve the common humanity and beauty that exist in those “different" from ourselves.

Music always felt like breathing in my dad’s family.  We come from a very only line of musicians, thanks to my grandfather, Luis Gonzalo Godoy’s  heritage.  My grandfather Luis Gonzalo Godoy’s is of  the 4th generation of musicians, on his mother side and at least  three generations on his dad's side. My dad and  about half of his 9 brothers and sisters, play an instrument or sing, or both.  My brother and most of my cousins  play something  or sing or both. I grew up with huge family gathering where live music was a normal way of life.  I remember  believing that everything my grandpa , my uncle Paco  ( one with most fame among my uncles and aunts)  and my dad played were written by them.  I was about four or five at the time, but I wasn’t completely off because my grandpa, uncle ,and my  dad are the three most prominent composers of  family.  And  all three have important  compositions that are widely popular throughout Ecuador 
  Music has shaped me in more ways than one. Although I didn’t pursue a career in music. I could have if it hadn’t been for my stage fright. Growing up seeing the successful , musical careers my grandpa who had national and, internationally  fame within the  Latin American world.  He recently told  me of his travels  and played in Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, etc. The financial stability my uncle Paco and my grandpa  built with their music,  gave me the confidence to believe that  financial stability can  be built around the pursuit of one’s passion. The impact my dad has made , with his research and writing and of course music,  has instilled in me  a sense of  purpose that lies in  our responsibility when it comes to  sharing what we create with the world. 
 

On Jan 5th 2012 , I fell in love with the  Pases del Niño,  impromptu parades ( Three Kings Day )parades  of Riobamba Ecuador.   it was the first time I had ever seen  them. Because even though I was born in Riobamba,  I only lived there  until I was 2.8 years old.  When y family moved to Quito, and later to the United States when I was  seven. y I took a crazy about of pictures, that day  I basically filled two  DSLR memory cards in less than two hours.  That  event inspired my  Senior Thesis  at MICA, that year. 
 And I have always held in the back of my mind the desire to  paint ,  and learn more about the  indigenous,  mestizo characters that make up this festive colorful and utterly unique event of Chimborazo. I started by painting the Curiquingui, the bird character, and the Danzante the indigenous, priest like character. In addition to the Riobambeñan Devil/ the Supay, of which I started an  individual series for. Both series have been on standby due to the need of more , field research, and the financial means to bring these projects and a few others to fruition. 

Back in 2012 during the field project of the Jahauy harvest ritual song, I took hundreds of portraits of the indigenous people that participated, during our breaks. I thought someday I’m going to make a huge portrait series of acrylic paintings of them. 
  My interest in accepting to work in the Jahauy project stemmed from wanting to learn more about my maternal grandmother’s indigenous heritage.  She  grew up working against her will for a hacienda in Chimborazo. We know very little about her family because she was  separated forcefully from  her parents, and she didn’t grow up with either one. She chose not to teach most of her kids the Quichua language  so that they wouldn’t be discriminated against in school. Which is why my mother the 12 of her 13 kids never learned it. 
 In my watercolor portrait series 2021, I  started with this idea, but as I was painting it I knew that I wanted to make the series in acrylic paints.  I knew because  it would enrich that  experience of bright bold colors of their clothing. Overall, I want to  continue to explore this theme of my grandmother ancestry in a larger scale because she is one of the main reasons, I got into the art world in the first place. Besides my desire to explore my roots, I got her innate gift in visual arts. My mom always says how great  my grandmother  was a drawing, carving, sowing weaving and  just creating things with her hands. This series will be a tribute to my grandmother’s roots and a thank for directing me towards this life as a creator without her knowing.