Whether I’m reading about art history at a museum, walking through the streets of a big city and gazing at the murals, or becoming mesmerized by the architecture of foreign towns, the sheer amount of art I’m exposed to is one of my favorite parts about going on vacation. Art is a universal language that transcends both the spoken and written word. The emotion of a facial expression or the embrace of a loved one transcends every language, culture, and civilization across the planet and throughout history. To me, art is a reminder of how deeply connected we all are. It is a reminder of all the differences we invent in order to develop a false sense of superiority, a reminder that someone living a completely different life from you still wants what you want: safety, connection, meaning, comfort, and love. Here is some of the art that has moved me:
Colombia, July 2019 (Bogotá, Medellín, Quindío, Guatapé):
Street Art throughout the country! I was truly blown away by the paintings I saw as I walked through the streets of Bogotá and Medellín.
Gold artwork, both ancient and modern. Many people don’t know this off the top of their head, but the legend of El Dorado was a conspiracy of Spanish colonizers based in Colombia (contrary to what the Dreamworks movie would have you believe with its cultural inaccuracies of depicting a Maya ball game with a legend set in Lake Guatavita. These two things did not even exist on the same CONTINENT). This might sound bleak to say, but because of the brutality of colonization, I’m surprised that ANY ancient artwork survived. Even more incredible pieces. Some of these are recent, but some are THOUSANDS of years old. The upper right is a figurine of a woman. I am always fascinated by the evolution of the female body in art. The body itself remains the same, but the interpretation and depiction varies greatly across cultures and time periods. I’m actually obsessed with the fact that you can’t honestly tell which body belongs to which person in the top left photo of the mom and daughter embracing. It looks like it could go either way, which I think might be one of the coolest artistic decisions ever. I also love the women below the moon, the village scene (my mom has a million of these types of village art around my childhood home), and the angry stare-down painting.
Miami, Florida (every year kinda thing)
Where do I even begin? I’ll start by saying Miami has the appropriate level of respect for musical geniuses that no other city has. There are murals dedicated to famous singers ALL over the city. I, of course, snapped the Aretha one because I love Aretha Franklin’s music and listen to her all the time. The top right is actually at Universal Orlando, and I thought it was insanely cool. I still regret not buying the jacket below and the shark bird cracked me tf up.
Seattle, Washington(November 2024)
This art was all so incredibly moving. I loved how diverse the art in Seattle is–you get artwork from all over the world. Within one museum, I saw art from Mexico, Japan, Italy, and Kenya. The bottom image is a necklace from Kenya designed to represent two lovers embracing. And that’s my aunt and me on the bottom right !! As someone who loves world mythology, this was actually the coolest thing ever.
Portland, Oregon. I lived here for 5 years
The top pics are from The Hungry Tiger, which is one of my favorite restaurants and bars in Portland. They have SO much vegan junk food. If someone put the vegan BLT, vegan corndogs, and vegan mac n cheese along with 4 vodka or tequila shots in a mouse trap, I would have gotten caught every single time back when I was in college. I love how totally psychedelic and whimsical that art is. The bottom left is a painting I saw at Portland Mercado, which is the Latin market in Portland. It low key freaked me out that the girl playing guitar and the bottom two people bear a resemblance to me and my parents, but I try not to think too hard about it. The right is a sugar skull display at the mercado during Día de los Muertos weekend.
LunaSol: Art, Food, & Nature From Around the World! 