Sandra Higgins is delighted to present ‘Recent Works’, shown for the first time in London, by the acclaimed Colombian artist Carlos Jacanamijoy. This show will bring together paintings, sculpture, serigraphs and drawings from the artist’s studio in Bogota.

Over the last 20 years, the “Maestro Jaca” (Master Jaca), as he is known in Colombia, has steadily built a strong reputation based on his abstract paintings, which depict landscapes inspired by the Colombian tropical rainforest where he grew up. The works in this exhibition will also explore the artist’s range of prints, drawings and sculpture. Inherent in each of these mediums is a surreal and oneiric quality largely informed by the rites and spiritual beliefs of the Inga community, the indigenous ethnic group Jacanimijoy belongs to. They express the way in which a modern-day Inga envisions the mysterious interactions of the natural world with the spiritual powers of the indigenous world. His works, thus, beautifully connect ancient traditions with contemporary sensibilities.

Jacanamijoy explores the specific questions of landscape and memory with vibrant colours and a shamanic view of nature, using native symbols to express a personal universe. His paintings constitute a large pictorial vocabulary that create a ‘reading’ experience that brings out the sensuality of his colours. This use of native symbols is also reflected in his sculpture and prints, for example Chilakuan (illustrated), a Quechua word from his native language, symbolises a seed pod used in Inga ceremonies and in ‘Jaca's’ hands transformed into a ‘toy’ or collectable contemporary object of beauty. The gestural marks in his prints suggest an autobiographical journey through the flora and fauna of his native land.

The complexity of ‘Jaca’s’ inner world is such that he has spoken of his need to ‘shamanise’ his work as an artist. This stance is, no doubt, indebted to the artist’s father, who was an Inga shaman. ‘Jaca’ himself is a shaman of his tribe in Santiago, Putumayo, and carries on this tradition so that all of his works are imbued with a symbolism transmitted by him throughout his life.

Note: The artist will be present for the reception so it will be possible for guests to gain a fuller insight into his creative process directly from ‘Jaca’ himself.