CVAG George Sawchuk Gallery
NAGUALA
An immersive video and sound installation by Claudia Medina with sound composition by Sophia Sanford:
(Soundscape in Nahuatl, English + Spanish)
Naguala offers a captivating and immersive experience that delves deeply into the rich Mexican traditions of Nagualismo, loosely translated as shapeshifting. This three-channel video and two-channel sound project explores the mystical realm of the Naguala, where the boundaries between, animals, plants, earth, cosmos, reality and the supernatural dissolve and are reconfigured. The Naguala guide invites you to consider yourself beyond the human form, forever transforming, continually being woven into the fabric of life and death, the macro and the micro, asking you to consider, “Who are you outside of your skin?”
CLAUDIA MEDINA
Artist Statement:
My work aims to untangle the concepts of tradition and culture to highlight aspects that are often left out of mainstream discourse. Perspectives of rural women, of children, relationships with non-human life forms, and intergenerational relationships have been central themes in all of my work. Naguala, in particular, aims to de-centre the human and re-story ourselves beyond a hierarchical interpretation of existence. I have aimed to deepen my understanding of Nahua traditional knowledge, going beyond western “folkloric” or “magical” interpretations to explore ways of knowing and being that I feel are more relevant than ever and that have never been erased.
Naguala draws from the ancient knowledge traditions of my mother’s home community, Tecomitl, Momoxco, is known for. The project was catalyzed by my curiosity and investigation into why this community has been known as the “Tierra de los Naguales”. The result aims to peel the surface off the colonized interpretation of inherent evil and fear associated with the concept of Nagualismo to reveal the beauty and wisdom of the teachings beneath. In Nahua tradition, to become a Nagual means to immerse oneself in the learning of cosmology, poetry, plant medicine, and movement. It is ultimately a healing practice. It is this interpretation that has been suppressed, misunderstood and unseen by popular culture.
Nagualismo is revealed to be full of rich and relevant teachings rooted in our shifting and yet consistently relational connections to the non-human aspects of life both on earth and beyond. The Naguala guide brings us to a new place, composing the notion of the Anthropocene, and invites us into a place of remembered entanglement with processes of time, life, decay, and regeneration. She asks you to consider “Who are you outside of your skin?”
Biography:
Claudia Medina is the proud daughter of a Nahua/Mexican mother and Italian father who left their homelands to start a new life on the Sunshine Coast of Canada in Tla’Amin territory/qathet region. After many years working, travelling and studying in Vancouver, Galiano Island, Latin America, Asia and Europe, Claudia eventually returned to the coast to raise her daughter Alma while continuing to develop an art practice in film, video and installation.
Claudia has been involved in film and video production since 1998. She established her production company, EnMedia for her fiction films and since then has expanded it to produce and direct diverse projects in film, visual design, media education and installation.
Her immersive multi-channel installations include Future Forests (2018), Clam Basket (2022), a collaboration with Tla’Amin artist/weaver, Sosan Blaney and painter Megan Dill, and Naguala (2023).
Claudia holds a master’s degree in Visual Culture from the University of Barcelona with a focus on installation, visual culture and ecology. She continues to create media with the goal of creating possibilities for reconnection in times of crisis.
SOPHIA SANDFORD
Biography:
Sophia Sanford is a composer, vocalist, and producer writing and releasing music and audiovisual projects across genres. With a life-long passion for sonic expression, she brings a depth of emotion to production that echoes an obsession with the voice and all things sound. Music has always been a place where Sanford can articulate specific truth and turn pain into power. She has composed for artists, dance companies, circus performers and various audiovisual projects. With their love of noise leading the way, Sanford creates emotive landscapes designed to help a story be told in new ways, and more deeply understood. Collaboration is an essential element of Sanford’s practice, which will be spotlighted in the coming year through a series of exciting releases and performances. Most days she can be found weaving sound in her seaside studio. Community is another essential part of Sanford’s practice leading her to start Noise Machine, a residency space and service provider that helps artists make and release music.
Naguala is part of the Transcendent Thresholds convergent program at the Comox Valley Art Gallery.
