Inspired by the Holy Mary
- Rosa was touched by an experience she had with the Virgin Mary
- Her holy statues have been exhibited in the Smithsonian Museum and the Vatican
- She was inspired by her mother to create an unique craft
Rosa once saw the Virgin Mary move. She felt her penetrating gaze and was shaken to her core. She believed that this statue had spoken to her. She was only six years old and when she dared to touch it and realised that it could not move, she did not lose faith. She decided recreate the same kind of statues in terracotta. She started making early on in life, as she constantly watched her wise and hardworking mother make vases, pots, chorotes, pans, and casserole dishes. Rosa believed her mother was as tireless as she was self-sacrificing. She understood what it took her to bring mazamorra (sweet porridge made with milk, corn and sugarcane) to a table of seven people every day. She also noticed how women who resold products in the Villa de Leyva marketplace earned more than her mother and all the other potters who worked from dawn to dusk.
Discover her work
INTERVIEW
When I was six, I thought I saw the Holy Mary moving. This deeply touched me, and inspired me to create religious figures from clay. I wanted people’s hearts to jump when they saw my sculptures, as it happened to me.
When I was seven years old, I created a church in ceramic. It was small and uneven, but I sold it in Villa de Leyva’s market place to a lady called Pepita Camacho, who was Villa de Leyva’s cultural promoter.
I have always worked with peasant scenes, recreating the customs of our people and the religious theme, which is cherished by my home community.
My Holy Mary statues were appreciated by Americans when I presented them at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington and my eldest Otilia rests in the Vatican. I achieved what my six-year-old self wanted so much: that whoever looks at them feels touched.
