roberto mighty Art/New Media
Gallery: Sorceress
Inspiration
I conceived of the Sorceress project during the Spring of 2001. Lucrecia Novoa, the Chilean sculptor and performance artist, had shown me photos of her work for Boston’s First Night celebration, where she and a troupe of mask-makers perform every year. I also saw her exhibit at the Waltham Public Library.
Lucrecia’s work is full of Latin-American magical realism. The Latin American sensibility draws on spirituality from rich cultural sources, including Catholicism, Santería, Native American and African traditions.
I met Lucrecia, her husband and their children in the late 90's. Bit by bit, I began to think about creating a film with her as a main character, but the project didn’t get off the ground until Summer, 2001.
Silent Movie
I finally approached her in the Spring of 2001. At first, she seemed reticent. I was crushed. Later she revealed that she was only concerned about having to speak English on camera. It then occurred to me to make the project into a silent, musical film.
Still Images
I arranged to meet Lucrecia for film shoots, the first one in late June. These shoots were long and complicated, as I insisted on using a huge amount of lighting instruments, filters, special lenses, etc. During the first session, I took some still photos, just to document my lighting style…
Life of their own
... I looked at the still images back in my studio, and I was amazed. The images had a life of their own, outside of the film project. My film is still "in the can," but this is my gallery of images from "Sorceress," featuring the artwork of Lucrecia Novoa. - Roberto
