Purple Snake Tela
50.5 x 59"
This is a beautiful handmade tela, or cloth, that is both embroidered and painted. It's on a large cotton cloth dyed with natural plant based dye. The paint is also plant based. The main image is a purple snake that splits into two tails, 2 corazons (hearts) of Ayahuasca, and chacruna leaves.
These textiles are traditional to the Shipibo tribe of the Peruvian Amazon. The designs ("kene" in the Shipibo language) represent their indigneous cosmovision and the frequency of their medicine songs (icaros), which carry the spirit and medicine of the plants. These textiles are ceremonial and carry a unique healing power. For this reason they are often used on altars, ceremonially or admired hung on the wall. All telas are purchased personally directly from Shipibo aritsans in Iquitos or Tarapoto, Peru. Your purchase helps support their livlihood and ancestral craft.