Work in Progress: Edgar Calel

Edgar Calel works with clay on canvas, blending traditional techniques with contemporary narratives that address the precarity of land, language, tradition and memory in his Maya Kaqchikel heritage. Ahead of his debut of new paintings at Frieze London with Proyectos Ultravioleta, Calel reflects on how he seeks and communicates the ‘depth’ of his ancestors’ perspective, and how he negotiates constancy and movement in his practice.

Livia Russell Can you talk about your new work for Frieze London? 

Edgar Calel I love spending time in the landscape, both appreciating it and being a part of it. Translating my environment into art is a way of bringing the audience closer to my thoughts as an artist in the Mayan Kaqchikel community. 

For Frieze London 2024, I will present a new series of landscapes with images of different places in Guatemala, which I paint over in clay. On the front of the canvas, the text reads ‘they sell me’, and on the back, I have written in charcoal ‘Mani yi ni Besq'opij’, which translates as ‘don’t let me go’ or ‘don’t sell me’.

‘Mani yi ni Besq'opij’ is a phrase that my grandmother used to say to us as a reminder that we should not sell our land, because if we sell it, we lose our autonomy, and from then on, everything will be more difficult.

LR How does this work fit within your œuvre? 

EC The memory and knowledge of my ancestors are always present in my work. I think it is important to share my reflections on life today: the way the land, rivers, water, seeds and knowledge are constantly at risk of being taken out of our hands. 

To be alive and creating is a constant exercise in negotiation.

LR Are there new sources of inspiration in your current work? 

EC Time and matter are constant factors in my practice. Every day when I wake up, I think that life has given me another opportunity to see and understand what I did not have time to reflect on before. My ancestors lived in a time where things had a deep meaning. I seek that depth and try to bring it into each of my works.

LR What does your day in the studio look like right now? 

EC Life has its magic. Often, while I am drawing, painting or writing, someone appears or calls me, inviting me to visit a place. They suggest something that may interest me, that connects to my artistic and spiritual path, and complements how I live and think, and what I do.

My ancestors lived in a time where things had a deep meaning. I seek that depth.

LR How do you see your practice developing? 

EC Sometimes I need my thoughts and practices to be as steady as stone. Other times, I need to flow like the river and the air. To be alive and creating is a constant exercise in negotiation.

LR If my studio could speak it would say... 

My studio would sing you a song that my grandmother used to sing in her house, which is now my studio. The song goes like this: ‘Kitkitkitkit…kit kit kit kit kit’. It feeds the listener’s heart with art.

Further Information

Frieze London and Frieze Masters, 9 – 13 October 2024, The Regent’s Park.

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^{Main Image: Edgar Calel. Courtesy: the artist and Proyectos Ultravioleta, Guatemala City}