Homage to Norval Morrisseau (Part VII)

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by Oswaldo DeLeón Kantule "Achu"

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"Homenaje a Norval Morrisseau" ["Homage to Norval Morrisseau"],
acrylic on canvas, 68"x48", © 2008 by Oswaldo DeLeón Kantule "Achu" 
/Click on image to Enlarge/


About the Artist

Oswaldo DeLeón Kantule ("Achu") was born in Ustupu, Kuna Yala, Panama, in 1964. He began painting (self-taught) in the 1980's and graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Panama. He has exhibited his work in several countries including Panama, Cuba, Canada, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and the USA. In 1996 Oswaldo won First Prize in the National INAC Painting Competition (Panamanian National Institute of Culture), and was invited to participate in the Sixth Biennial Art Competition of Panama in June, 2002. His paintings are in private collections in Panama, Cuba, Spain, France, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Belgium, Portugal, Argentina, and other countries. He currently resides in London, Ontario.


Artist's Statement

I find inspiration for my art in the deepest of Kuna spirituality, in our Kuna world view and in our millenary existence. Our myths, art, religion, rituals and ceremonies, due to their symbolic and metaphorical language, are misunderstood by many people; however, they can help to explain the reality of today's society, which is immersed in a moral crisis, plagued by intolerance, violence, racism, the destruction of the environment and the globalization of fear.

In order to communicate these worries, I use the ancestral symbolism of my people, present in our daily lives; sometimes I make use of symbols of other cultures. For example, the Hammock is the centre or the heart of Kuna culture. Not only is the hammock our resting place at the end of the day; it is also used to cradle our mortal remains when we begin our voyage to our next life after death. The hammock is the place from which our Sailas, or spiritual guides, sing to us everyday in our meeting house, relaying our collective memory through sacred songs. When we are sick, our healers sing to us while we lie in our hammocks, and burn cocoa seeds in a clay pot under the hammock, helping them to travel to other dimensions in order to cure us.

Oswaldo DeLeón Kantule "Achu"

SOURCES (text/image):

~ Spence Gallery - A gallery representing art of Oswaldo DeLeón Kantule "Achu"

~ Official website of Oswaldo DeLeón Kantule "Achu" 

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>>> Reference posts:
- Homage to Norval Morrisseau (Part I),
- Homage to Norval Morrisseau (Part II),
- Homage to Norval Morrisseau (Part III),
- Homage to Norval Morrisseau (Part IV),
- Homage to Norval Morrisseau (Part V) &
- Homage to Norval Morrisseau (Part VI).
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