Collection: Artist Spotlight: Nathalia Toledo Barcia

Born in Ecuador, a plurinational country, Nathalia Toledo Barcia became interested in the pursuit of ancestral knowledge – not only about culture, traditions, and arts and crafts – but also the myths and rituals of primal nations. 

Nathalia appreciates the deep connection indigenous people still maintain with Mother Earth and learned the wisdom of Aents, a word in Shuar (the language of the Shuar Nation from the Amazon) that affirms how everything is alive: humans, animals, supernatural beings, plants, and objects.The illumination produced by this multicultural dialogue through diverse visions and knowledge is what she reflects in her work.

Her hope is that one day her artifacts can survive the transition of time and that, preferring art to dialogue, she could awaken feelings, evoke the past of useful art, and sustain the future of art in service to the universal spirit.