Tsupu! Burn the Waters, 2025
100x120cm
Plaster, Gaoling mud, mineral pigments, gold leaves on wood
 

In How Forests Think, Eduardo Kohn mentions that while living with the Runa people in the Avila region of Ecuador and conducting field research, he noticed how they use language, dreams, symbols and non-verbal perception to understand the beings in the forest. When a local returning from hunting described an injured pig jumping into the water, he used the word "tsupu", referring to an entity (object, animal, person, etc.) that comes into contact with and then passes through water. Tsupu is not merely an onomatopoeia but demonstrates the generation of a relationship: the body meets the water surface, disappears, and is enveloped, while recreating the image of the event to absent companions. Every creature, sound and action in the forest thinks symbolically.

 

When waste from a landfill flows in, tsupu becomes a moaning lament. The creatures, stones, algae, moss, and silt in the water and surrounding area merge with the water to varying degrees, soaking and absorbing, decaying and reproducing. The breath of life in this body of water will be like burning paper, turning to ash.