Catherine Ambush (Rumikusi)

My practice was born from a love of color. The rainbow box of crayons from my youth that always brought me joy proved to be a foundation for my artistic profession. As an adult, I was drained from the monotony of everyday life and sought to discover a way to reintroduce color to my world. In my pursuit, my works began to experiment with abstraction. I toyed and trialed with elements of indigenous art, street art, ink design, and geometric vector art, which has allowed my work to grow and evolve with each new iteration.

Along the way, I had a revelation upon my encounter with dot art. Through the abstraction of paint dots, I found a way to fuse my designs, my love of bright vivacious color, and my own Quechua heritage. Tapping into my indigenous Peruvian roots intensified my use of bold patterns and lines and integrated symbolism such as sacred circles. Most significantly this influenced my rhythm of color. From this I developed rumikusi. The word combines the terms for ‘happy’ and ‘stone’ in the Quechua language and concisely embodies this series of work. Mandalas with elaborate patterns are executed through seemingly deliberate and meticulous application of dots. However, these works are born from a sense of spontaneity and pure improvisation. My creations are based on a personal intuition and rooted in emotion to create art that is rich in sensorial experience.