"Fuerza de las Alas de Papalotl"
Strength of the Butterfly Wings
Strength of the Butterfly Wings
"Fuerza de las Alas de Papalot" "Strength of the Butterfly Wings" 4 by 8 feet, Acrylic on canvas,Private Collection, Los Angeles CA.
This winged relative takes 4 generations to complete its journey. There are two reasons why butterflies migrate, one is because they cannot withstand the northern freezing climates in winter and the second, their larval food plants do not grow in their overwintering sites, so the spring generation must fly back north to places where plants are abundant. The survival of the butterflies is vulnerable to human activity. The winters and lack of food supplies that butterflies move away from is similar to the political/economic reasons why people leave a place (ex: the privatizing of communal lands, sustainable systems disturbed). This is why I juxtaposed these images with the butterfly generations. One path often followed by Native People is to learn directly from the animals and from the earth, when there are factors disturbing the earth it is hard to make sense of what to do since the very examples are under attack. The Nahua believed that the monarch was the spirit of their fallen warriors coming back as butterflies. With this piece I advocate for the right to be cyclical, for continuation, for life.
This winged relative takes 4 generations to complete its journey. There are two reasons why butterflies migrate, one is because they cannot withstand the northern freezing climates in winter and the second, their larval food plants do not grow in their overwintering sites, so the spring generation must fly back north to places where plants are abundant. The survival of the butterflies is vulnerable to human activity. The winters and lack of food supplies that butterflies move away from is similar to the political/economic reasons why people leave a place (ex: the privatizing of communal lands, sustainable systems disturbed). This is why I juxtaposed these images with the butterfly generations. One path often followed by Native People is to learn directly from the animals and from the earth, when there are factors disturbing the earth it is hard to make sense of what to do since the very examples are under attack. The Nahua believed that the monarch was the spirit of their fallen warriors coming back as butterflies. With this piece I advocate for the right to be cyclical, for continuation, for life.
