La Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Painting

In this painting, I continue the exploration of La Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta—as a subject matter, material, and metaphor. I have spent the last 10 years walking through this mountain range, establishing an intimate relationship with the site and discovering new layers of our mutual dependence after each expedition. La Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is the largest coastal mountain range in the world. With peaks of 18,700 ft above sea level it has been identified as the most irreplaceable site for biodiversity conservation in the world given its very high endemism and the amount of threaten species that inhabit it. Hence why the native people from La Sierra, the ancestors of the pre-Hispanic Civilization, known as the Tayrona refer to this area as “The heart of the world.” They believe that this mountain is a microcosm of the planet, a reflection of what happens in the world at large.