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atyban mague : November ‘21

Contributor Catalina Christensen writes: ‘The pigment called ‘ATYBAN MAGUE’ was gathered from La Candelaria Desert in Colombia, an area that used to be a sea until the rise of the Andes mountains, and which was inhabited by the Muisca people. It was processed in my studio in London.

The story starts one afternoon in 2015 when we were walking in the area and we heard about some rock paintings nearby. There are Petroglyphs and Pictographs most likely created by the MUISCA chaimas/priests using their fingers, mainly from a red pigment made from cinnabar, ochre, or iron oxide and some black & white made from Charcoal and chalk.  After seeing the beautiful paintings that have been there for over 1,400 years, and while walking on the colorful stones, I had this very strong urge to make pigments from the colorful rocks of the desert. This encounter was the one to change my artistic practice for ever.’

contributor: Catalina Christensen

Catalina is an artist/architect inspired by the natural world, mainly wilderness. Her aim is to evoke her experience by depicting the essence and atmosphere of a place, rather than their physical reality. She is fascinated with experimentation and the alchemy of materials and due to ecological concerns, five years ago, she made the decision to have a practice as environmentally neutral as possible. This inspired her to use egg tempera and natural materials, mainly pigments.

For her, the collection and preparation of the pigments is an artistic endeavor in itself, and therefore she includes them in her exhibitions. She is in the process of creating a comprehensive pigment collection which comprises pigments that she has gathered and processed, donations, exchanges and purchased pigments.

Catalina co-founded of The Wilderness Art Collective, a non-profit organization whose members discuss the natural world, is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), and a member of The Place Collective. www.catalinachristensen.com