Events
Mutualista; towards a new cosmic methodology
For Mutualista, artist Marcus Zúñiga will moderate a panel discussion taking its cue from his mutualism imager project. Currently on view in the Armory’s From the Ground Up exhibition, Zúñiga’s installation conflates references to sun and moon alignments and the symbiotic relationship between the yucca and moth, in order to model a possible form of healing where cosmic knowledge initiates the process.
Zúñiga will expand on these ideas in a discussion with curandera and author Erika Buenaflor, astrophysicist Jorge Moreno, and writer and scholar David Delgado Shorter. The discussion serves as an experiment to develop an interdisciplinary (art, science, healing, culture) approach for addressing the planet’s current existential condition in the cosmos. This event is free and open to everyone. RSVPs are appreciated.
Mutualista is presented in conjunction with our current exhibition From the Ground Up: Nurturing Diversity in Hostile Environments, part of PST ART: Art & Science Collide. From the Ground Up joins dozens of cultural, scientific, and community organizations for PST ART: Art & Science Collide, presented by Getty. For more information about PST ART: Art & Science Collide, please visit pst.art
About the Panelists
Marcus Zúñiga is an artist working in sculpture and time-based media. Zúñiga was born in Silver City, New Mexico and raised among the rural communities of Southern New Mexico. He is currently based in Los Angeles. Using the primary material of light, his works often interact with their environment to embody the space between human and cosmic bodies. They deconstruct the apparatus of the modern telescope to center the subjectivity of the cosmos. Zúñiga received his BFA from the University of New Mexico and MFA from Art Center College of Design. His work has been featured in curated exhibitions at Philosophical Research Society, Los Angeles; Benito Greene Arte Público, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico; 516 Arts, Albuquerque; and the MexiCali Biennial at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture of the Riverside Art Museum.
Dr. David Delgado Shorter is a UCLA professor and the Director of the Archive of Healing. He has written about Indigenous collaboration, cross-species communication, and el curanderismo. Raised in the home of a curandera and now with his own practice in the San Fernando Valley, David’s scholarly work focuses on revising "settler science" to include intersubjective ways of knowing. His essay, “Una Metodología Fronteriza ” was just optioned by MGM for a TV show on traditional Latino spirituality in the US-Mexico Borderlands.
Erika Buenaflor, M.A., J.D. has over 25 years of experience practicing as a curandera, mentoring with curanderx, and studying curanderismo in academia. She has a master’s degree in religious studies with a focus on Mesoamerican shamanism and curanderismo. She has written Cleansing Rites of Curanderismo, Curanderismo Soul Retrieval, Sacred Energies of the Sun and Moon, Animal Medicine, Veneration Rites of Curanderismo, and created the Mesoamerican Oracle Cards. As a modern-day curandera, she excels at translating and applying this sacred knowledge to help her clients and mentees realize and live their BLISS. Find out more at realizeyourbliss.com.
Jorge Moreno is an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Pomona College, and a theoretical astrophysicist with expertise in galaxy evolution. Prof. Moreno employs high-performance supercomputers to simulate galaxy assembly, has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles and has delivered over 100 invited colloquia worldwide, and has accumulated over one million dollars in extramural research funding. In addition to being a world renowned scientist, Prof. Moreno is an award winning teacher and mentor who is devoted to creating equitable and inclusive communities of care. Prof. Moreno is the fourth Mexican scholar to earn tenure in astrophysics in the United States (the seventh outside Mexico), directed the Harvard-Aztlán Institute, and served as chair of the Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy (AAS) during the Trump years.
Image: Marcus Zúñiga, mutualism imager, 2023. Light, obsidian, pine, yucca, cornmeal, earth; 55 x 59 x 36 in. Reserve, NM. Photo: Marcus Zúñiga. Courtesy of the artist.
From the Ground Up: Nurturing Diversity in Hostile Environments and related programs are made possible with support from PST ART: Art & Science Collide, presented by Getty. Lead support for all Armory programs comes from the Perenchio Foundation. Major support for this exhibition is provided by the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts and the Pasadena Community Foundation. Generous support is provided by Pasadena Art Alliance, with additional support provided by Betsy Greenberg and Steve NyBlom, and Jill Sumiyasu. This exhibition is also supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
