Kukuli Velarde: A Closer Look
Learn how Peruvian-American artist Kukuli Velarde depicts the complexity of her Indigenous heritage and the legacy of Spanish colonialism in her work La Linda Nasca. Using these activities, you can engage in slow looking and explore your own identity through art making.
Peruvian-American artist Kukuli Velarde (b. 1962, Cusco, Peru) creates artworks that celebrate Indigenous cultures and explore the effects of Spanish colonization on the Andes. In this clay sculpture, she transforms a famous statue in Cusco’s cathedral of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, called La Linda, into an ancient Nasca goddess. In this way, Velarde imagines how modern Andeans might embrace both their Spanish and Indigenous heritages.
This resource is made possible through the generous support of the Terra Foundation for American Art.
