Tag Archives: textiles

Cusco Commute

"Cusco Commute", mixed media by Kerry McFall, photo credit Corey Jay

Daughter Corey sent a stunning photo of her “commute” to work in Cusco, Peru.  From her apartment she walks down ancient cobbled – well, “streets” seems a bit over the top for what might be better termed “pathways”.  The view opening at the end of the narrow, winding way is of a surprisingly large (to me) city filled with adobe and terra cotta tiles and flanked by rugged peaks.  Perhaps, if all goes well, we’ll get to walk this route some day before she leaves… I wonder if my knees are up to it?  Not to mention that at 11,000 feet altitude, it might be a bit tricky to catch a breath.

The “frame” is based on another photo of a vintage textile piece that she sent, which seems to be an abstract made up of alternating dragons and some kind of doorway protected by maybe a snake…   Without seeing it and touching it, it’s hard to say how it was made, but I’d guess it started out as yellow fabric, some kind of resist was used for the eyes and the yellow dots (representing eggs maybe?), and then the rest was dye painted on using a terra cotta color and maybe an umber.  In several photos that she’s sent from other adventures in Peru, I’ve noticed costumes and murals and textiles that feature some pretty elaborate dragons…. wait, dragons in South America?  Where did those come from? Evidently there has been quite a large influence from Japan over time, maybe that’s the origin.  (There were also a lot of gorilla costumes… that origin escapes me completely.)  Given the scariness factor of dragons and snakes, I decided that they would serve to protect her on her commute if I put them on “guard duty” in the frame.  Safe journeys, Corey!