Traditionally an ‘Ex-Voto’ is a votive offering to a saint or to a divinity. It is given in fulfilment of a vow (hence the Latin term, short for ex voto suscepto, “from the vow made”) or in gratitude or devotion where the worshiper seeks grace or wishes to give thanks.
Ex-votos can take a wide variety of forms. They are not only intended for the helping figure, but also as a testimony to later visitors of the received help. As such they may include texts explaining a miracle attributed to the helper, or symbols such as a painted or modelled reproduction of a miraculously healed body part, or a directly related item such as a crutch given by a person formerly lame.
I have tried with these works to reflect the mixed heritage of my homeland Colombia. Indian, African and European.
These Ex-Voto interpretations are of stories that I have collected which have moved me, some of them are my own. When I work I Iet things flow and I try not to question. I just do it and see what happens. That is the closest way I can find contact with a higher reality. Maybe it is a place between a physical and spiritual existence which helps me meditate on human nature.
Carlos Zapata, 2015.
Ex-votos can take a wide variety of forms. They are not only intended for the helping figure, but also as a testimony to later visitors of the received help. As such they may include texts explaining a miracle attributed to the helper, or symbols such as a painted or modelled reproduction of a miraculously healed body part, or a directly related item such as a crutch given by a person formerly lame.
I have tried with these works to reflect the mixed heritage of my homeland Colombia. Indian, African and European.
These Ex-Voto interpretations are of stories that I have collected which have moved me, some of them are my own. When I work I Iet things flow and I try not to question. I just do it and see what happens. That is the closest way I can find contact with a higher reality. Maybe it is a place between a physical and spiritual existence which helps me meditate on human nature.
Carlos Zapata, 2015.
Marriage
24 x 27 x 11.5 cm . mixed media
Homosexuality
23.5 x 27 x 11.5 cm . mixed media
War
25 x 33 x 6 cm . mixed media
Homeless
25 x 27 x 11.5 cm . mixed media
Love
24 x 27 x 7 cm . mixed media
Limbo 1
25 x 28 cm . mixed media
Birth
33 x 29 x 6 cm . mixed media
Limbo 2
26 x 28 cm . mixed media
Suicide
23.5 x 27.5 x 3 cm . mixed media
Kidnapping
24 x 29 x 7 cm . mixed media
Domestic Violence
27 x 28 x 8 cm . mixed media
Health
24 x 28 x 6 cm . mixed media
Work
33 x 27 x 10 cm . mixed media
Blindness
40 x 29 x 12 cm . mixed media
Councelor
41 x 28 x 11 cm . mixed media
Childhood
17 x 18 x 7 cm . mixed media
Vulnerability
44 x 15 x 18 cm . mixed media
Saint Peter - Against Criminals
35 cm heigh . mixed media
Saint Gregorio Hernandez - Protector of Sick People
38 cm heigh . mixed media
Saint Francis - Protector of Animals
35 cm heigh . mixed media
Saint Joseph - Protector of Expectant Women and Dying People
35 cm heigh . mixed media
Guadalupe - Protector of Unborn Children
40 cm heigh . mixed media
Maria Magdalena - Protector of Prostitutes
33 cm heigh . mixed media
Saint Pig
30 cm heigh . mixed media
Saint Bull
36 cm heigh . mixed media
Prayer
18 cm heigh . mixed media
Vatican - Religious Machine
245 x 30 x 30 cm . mixed media
Ex-Voto - Thanks for the people liberated from Kidnapping
105 x 47 x 19 cm . mixed media
Shaman - Protector
201 x 30 x 30 cm . mixed media
Slave Ship
195 x 30 x 56 cm . mixed media
