Delcy Morelos

An overdue examination of the Colombian artist’s decade-long, soil-based practice, evincing her contributions to the lineage of land art

For more than a decade, Colombian artist Delcy Morelos (born 1967) has worked primarily with earth, creating immersive environments of geometrically abstract forms. Drawing on Indigenous cosmologies, Morelos’ work explores the sustaining power of mud in its many forms--as a source of life and sustenance.
This bilingual monograph approaches Morelos’ two soil-based installations--Cielo terrenal (2023) and El abrazo (2023)--to explore the artist’s role in the history of land art. The texts consider the natural materials used in her Dia commission and their sensory, spatial and phenomenological impact. The volume also features a selection of stories sourced from Indigenous Colombian communities--Bará, Matapí, Tanimuca, M+n+ca, Uitoto N+pode and Yucuna Kamejeyá--that underscore Morelos’ acute understanding of the sacred relationship between land and its inhabitants.