Culebra Verde - Green Snake
Yasuni Park Collection
Ceramic and Underglased Colours Unique Dishes
Ceramic dish featuring a snake skin design, hand-painted with copper oxide accents, and green and red glaze that symbolized life and hope.
Inspired by the Yasuni Protected Area in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest.
In Ecuador, there is a national park called Yasuni, which covers around ten thousand square km and is located in the Ecuadorian Amazon. This park was declared a Natural Reserve by UNESCO in 1989 and is of great interest because it contains an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of crude oil, 40% of Ecuador's oil reserve. In 2007, the indigenous people of that region rose against the exploitation of oil, leading to a law passed by the local government to prevent oil extraction in exchange for monetary support from UNESCO and European countries.
Unfortunately, in 2016, oil extraction began in a part of Yasuni. In August 2023, a referendum organised by the indigenous people and the population of Ecuador resulted in the suspension of oil extraction. In the region, completely isolated indigenous peoples live, such as the Huaraní, the Taromenane, and the Tagaeri. These groups are not only threatened by a civilization they have rejected, but also exposed to diseases, disruption of traditions, and food shortages due to changes in biodiversity.
My work extols the beauty of the fauna and flora of Ecuador, particularly that of Yasuni, and aims to highlight what the world is losing due to poverty, greed, and human ignorance.