Seconded By: Lars Boering,
“Portraits of the Multiverse” is a visual investigation between Sadith Silvano, master of the Shipibo “Kené’’ artform and myself. Started in 2022, the project generates a visual dialogue about the Amazonian multiverse by combining photography with ancestral Kené embroidery. Our collaboration addresses sustainability from an environmental and cultural perspective, questioning the colonial fracture that separates the human from the non-human when considering the natural world. By incorporating this ancestral language into images, the series invites the viewer to consider memory and spirit in contemporary representations of the Amazon.
The photographs, captured on the banks of the Shanay-Timpishka and Nanay Rivers, represent nearly eight years of my exploration with healing in the Amazon rainforest. In them, I showcase elements of Amazonia using photography while Sadith reveals the immaterial energy that flows across the jungle using kené embroidery. Kené, the visual language of the Shipibo people, represents the invisible energy of their universe. In a transition from the invisible world to the visible and back to the invisible, this series develops a dialogue about the Amazonian multiverse. The resulting series is a visual encounter between two languages that capture light through different means: photography and embroidery .
Ronin, Serpent Spirit of the Universe
Vapors rise from the Shanay Timpishka River at dawn. Through Kené embroidery, Sadith Silvano reveals Ronin, the serpent spirit and master of the Shipibo universe watching over the forest.
Petition to the Plant Spirits
A hand extends toward the forest petitioning the plant spirits. This image represents my petition to the plant spirits to heal my back pain. Atop the image, Sadith Silvano’s Kené embroidery reveals the connection between the spiritual and natural worlds.
Came Renaco, Healing Tree
The branches of the Came Renaco tree, a tree used to prepare traditional medicine, on the banks of the Shanay Timpishka River. Kené embroidery reveals the healing spirit that flows through its branches.
In Shipibo tradition, when undergoing traditional healing, the patient must enter a spiritual relationship with the spirit of the plant. A top the image, Sadith Silvano uses Kené embroidery to represent he plant’s energy circuits and spirit, illuminated through traces of color.
Came Renaco Bark for Preparing Medicine
Mario Flores, a traditional plant healer, holds Came Renaco bark, which he will use to prepare medicine on the banks of the Shanay Timpishka River. While preparing the medicine, Mario petitions to the spirit of the Came Renaco.
In Shipibo tradition, the plant spirits communicate and work with the Ayahuasca, master plant spirit, during healing ceremonies. Sadith Silvano creates Kené embroidery with red, yellow and green threads, symbolizing a connection between the Came Renaco, Ayahuasca and the River.
Ayahuasca, Master Plant
A close up photograph of an Ayahuasca leaf. The image shows the natural geometric patterns found on the leaf. To the Shipibo, the plant Ayahuasca is one of the master teaching plants. Atop the image Sadith Silvano embroidered Kené with red, yellow and green threads. She used more recent curved designs as well older designs with right angles, placing their lines “face to face”. To her, this duality represents humanity.
Melipona
A stingless bee, Melipona eburnea, leaves the hive to pollinate the forest. This native species is vital to preserve forest health and their honey is used for medicinal purposes. Kené reveals the cosmic order that connects all living beings.
The Shanay Timpishka River (image 1 of 2-image diptych)
Two aerial photographs placed side by side of the Shanay Timpishka River. Near the bottom right, the spirit of the serpent is believed to live. The patterns formed along the river emulate the skin of the snake. Atop, Kené invites the viewer to flow along with multiplicity knowing that the visible and the invisible coexist in motion, outlining the serpent.
The Shanay Timpishka River (image 2 of 2-image diptych)
Two aerial photographs placed side by side of the Shanay Timpishka River. Near the bottom right, the spirit of the serpent is believed to live. The patterns formed along the river emulate the skin of the snake. Atop, Kené invites the viewer to flow along with multiplicity knowing that the visible and the invisible coexist in motion, outlining the serpent.
Spirits of the Jungle
Vapor rises from the river at dawn. In the vapor Sadith Silvano sees the jungle’s guardian spirits. Through Kené embroidery she reveals the spirits emerging from the waters, with the serpent spirit appearing on the left.
Mermaid
A woman swims in the Nanay River. Kené embellishes the bather with a mermaid’s tale , unlocking the healing energies of the river.
Taken in the Nanay River, I created the photograph to represent myself swimming in a favorite healing space.
In the photo, Sadith Silvano sees her own image, and uses Kené embroidery to represent her own freedom and empowerment.