A chrome and silver school bus with spiritual and sculptural details

“Mariposa Relámpago” (2023), mixed media, approximately 13 × 8.5 × 35 feet. All images by GLR Estudio Gerardo & Eduardo Lopez, courtesy of the artist and P·P·O·W, New York, © Guadalupe Maravilla, shared with permission

Chrome plating, fringe made of humble kitchen cutlery, illuminated chandeliers, and symbolic sculptures of flora and fauna adorn a school bus parked at the ICA Watershed in the Boston Harbor Shipyard. The elaborately retrofitted vehicle is the largest project to-date by Guadalupe Maravilla and the latest addition to his Disease Thrower series.

Born out of the artist’s traumatic experience immigrating as an unaccompanied minor and suffering from colon cancer as an adult, the ongoing body of work evinces the healing power of sound and vibration. Titled “Mariposa Relámpago,” or lightning butterfly, the new work has had several lives before making its way to Boston: the bus was first used for transporting students in the U.S., then sent to the artist’s native El Salvador, and finally ended up in his studio where it underwent its current transformation.

 

The front of a chrome and silver school bus with spiritual and sculptural details, including Mayan inspired sculptures and a model of human anatomy

Detail of “Mariposa Relámpago” (2023), mixed media, approximately 13 × 8.5 × 35 feet

Fastened to the vehicle’s body are several objects Maravilla found while retracing the 3,000-mile route he traveled as an eight-year-old to reunite with his parents, who had fled the country’s civil war. Included are references to Mayan cosmology and indigenous practices, spiritual emblems, and more contemporary imagery of disease and medicine, including a model of human anatomy resting atop the hood. Gongs and other tonal objects suspend from the sides, which Maravilla rings during his ritualistic sound baths. These sessions, which he’s hosted specifically for undocumented immigrants and those dealing with cancer, are known to reduce stress, anxiety, and tension that can worsen the pain of illness and injury.

Also in the exhibition at the Watershed are smaller paintings, scale models, and Disease Thrower sculptures made of mixed natural and synthetic materials that similarly reflect the artist’s exploration of displacement and recovery. Immersive and totemic, the works are part of the artist’s effort “to confront trauma in order to heal.”

Guadalupe Maravilla: Mariposa Relámpago is on view through September 4, with two sound baths scheduled for June 10 and August 13.

 

A massive beetle sculpture sits on a chrome with butterknife fringe below

Detail of “Mariposa Relámpago” (2023), mixed media, approximately 13 × 8.5 × 35 feet

A metallic crocodile head juts off the side of a school bus

Detail of “Mariposa Relámpago” (2023), mixed media, approximately 13 × 8.5 × 35 feet

Two detail images, on the left, the steps of a bus with Mayan-inspired sculpture and cutlery fringe, on the right, a floor and spoon fringe

Detail of “Mariposa Relámpago” (2023), mixed media, approximately 13 × 8.5 × 35 feet

Visitors walk inside a chrome and silver school bus with spiritual and sculptural details

“Mariposa Relámpago” (2023), mixed media, approximately 13 × 8.5 × 35 feet

Guadalupe Maravilla sits on a chrome and silver school bus with spiritual and sculptural details

The artist in “Mariposa Relámpago” (2023), mixed media, approximately 13 × 8.5 × 35 feet

A wide aluminum sculpture with a gong at the top center sits on the floor

“Disease Thrower #14” (2021), cast aluminum, steel tubing, assorted welded details, 86 × 143 × 79 inches

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Guadalupe Maravilla Transforms a School Bus into an Immersive Installation for Sound-Based Healing appeared first on Colossal.

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