In our last conversation, Brazilian Catarina Gushiken discussed how her erotic-transcendent series of “Corpo Montanha” was not just about eros and ecstasy, but the search for origins. Catarina is deeply aware of, and fascinated by, her dual heritage: I am sure that in her childhood, schoolmates and girlfriends would have asked her why she had such an unusual name: “Gushiken.”
Perhaps the average Brazilian or São Paulo-ite might assume Catarina looked half-Japanese. But Gushiken is actually an Okinawan name. As anyone familiar with the sociology, history, and politics of Japan will note, Okinawa, known at one point as the Ryukyu Kingdom (1429–1879), has maintained a fiercely independent spirit, distinct from Japan.
Catarina has this additional layer of identity, on top of her broader love for East Asia. She has visited Japan and China before (her first trip to China was last year and, in her assessment, transformative). Recently, she has felt increasingly drawn to China and its ancient spiritualities of the feminine, “gynocentric” deep mysteries, especially in the folkloric and Daoist traditions.
“I feel a deep connection to my Asian ancestry from Okinawa. It was formerly the independent Ryukyu Kingdom and was closely connected to China, especially during the Ming dynasty [1368–1644],” she tells me. Indeed, it is arguable that part of Okinawan spirituality enjoys influences from Chinese culture. During the Ming, at the request of the king of Ryukyu, China sent 36 families from Fujian Province to manage the region’s maritime trade. “This connection, combined with my keen interest in relating my ancestral memories to the memories of many people, led to my idea of painting a landscape through the impression of bodies transferred from their multiple memories.”
Some years ago, she was able to gather a collection of letters and mementos that told the story of her grandparents and her blood connection to Okinawa. These priceless documents revealed, beyond any uncertainty, that her “embodied” art and her specialty in creative works that fully involved physicality, were intimately linked to her self-expression. “When the desire to express myself through painting arose, I could not imagine being motivated to paint without establishing this relationship of interconnection with other bodies and memories,” she says. “So when I print the bodies on paper, I take the other as a starting point and, from there, I paint layers and build a landscape with the mirrors that emerge. I believe that this interest in the interconnections of ancestral memories is the core of my work and research. Therefore, any new series that emerges will have this essence.”
This is a considerable creative commitment for a veteran artist, and for that purpose, Catarina has started researching and doing whatever reading she can when she is not painting, taking commissions, or sharpening her Muay Thai skills (she is an accomplished martial artist, and has also explored Okinawan karate). “The Ryukyu Kingdom had its own culture, dialect, and customs. In Ryukyu spirituality, women played a central role,” she reflects. “The Ryukyu creation myth already highlights the centrality of women in spiritual matters. According to the fable, the god Shinerikyu and the goddess Amamikyu conceived three children: the first boy became the first king; the second, a girl, became the first priestess; and the third boy represented the origin of humanity.”
This spiritual origin has its roots in the indigenous Ryukyu tradition, whose religion is seen as animist. In this sense, Catarina believes, we can highlight the essential role of women as priestesses and shamans. The high priestess had the same status as the head of state, and the kingdom was organized into a unique “diarchy” of two complementary spheres: a female religious hierarchy and a male political hierarchy.
Catarina also found that shamans, or at least the Okinawan equivalent of priestesses that could connect with the divine, played a fundamental role in ancestor worship and in communication with spirits. However, with the end of the kingdom and its annexation by Japan, the religion gradually disintegrated, leading to the loss of the institutional power of the priestesses. Aspects of Buddhism were also incorporated into local spirituality. “Okinawan spirituality therefore has indigenous animist origins, while also retaining influences from Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Shintoism,” says Catarina. “But to this day, the leadership role of women in religious matters is still present, and they hold on the role of establishing a connection between the material and spiritual worlds.”
It is this discovery of an extraordinary spiritual connection with the history of Okinawa, and indirectly with China, that Catarina now seeks to explore. Whereas Asian religions like Buddhism have long been treated as “outsider” religions in Latin American countries like Brazil (despite many incredible sanghas arising since the Buddhist diffusion into Brazil), Catarina may well become an ambassador for a “homeward,” eastward reacquaintance by Brazilians of Asia’s traditions.
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Embodied: “Sensitive Calligraphy” as Physical Painting, with Catarina Gushiken
