Delcy Morelos in “Human Nature”
Delcy Morelos
Descriptive audio version available here.
In an ancient Carthusian monastery in Seville, Spain, artist Delcy Morelos works barefoot, her hands filled with aromatic soil and straw as she constructs one of her monumental earthworks. This documentary short follows the artist as she works across three continents, using soils, seeds, fabrics, and spices to create immersive experiences that powerfully embody the artist’s belief in our shared humanity and the sanctity of the Earth. “We are seeing the Earth as a living and sacred being,” says Morelos. “I don’t create sculptures, I design an experience.” Reflecting on her life and work, the artist recalls her childhood connection to nature in her hometown of Tierralta, Colombia, her early paintings that respond to Colombia’s history of violence, and the large-scale installations she is known for today. Creating intimate and tactile encounters with the natural world, the artist opens a unique possibility for discovery, healing, and harmony through a dialogue with the earth and with each other.
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About the artists
Delcy Morelos was born in 1967 in Tierralta, Colombia, and lives and works in Bogotá, Colombia. She received her BFA from La Escuela de Bellas Artes de Cartagena in 1991. Using materials drawn from the earth, such as pigment minerals, soil, and plant life, Morelos centers our relationship with the natural world, inviting a sense of harmony and dialogue with the environment around us. Across her paintings, sculptures, and multisensory installations, Morelos’s practice weaves together disparate histories and traditions: from Andean and Amazonian Indigenous cosmologies to the histories of violence and extraction in the Americas, using abstract forms and gestures to convey their impact on humanity and the earth.
Educator Guides provide information about selected artists and themes, questions for classroom discussions, and hands-on activities that provide students with a fundamental understanding of creative and critical thinking processes.
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