Poesia En Acuarela – Poetry in Watercolor
This heartfelt project of ‘Poetry in Watercolour’ arises after a long creative block, in the midst of which Rupert’s teachings came into my life.
I had reached a point of struggle from where I could only deeply pray for help, and soon after, I got to know the clarity of these non-dual teachings. They were just perfect, as if tailor-made for me, and a new world opened before my eyes: it was the clarity and the essence of what I have always been looking for, and I immediately recognized it. As I delved deeper into the teachings over the years, various aspects of my life were rearranged, sometimes painfully, but effectively. Rupert´s teachings meant a turning point in my life, as I was soaking into this new understanding, and my inner and outer life was gradually being transformed into an effortless abidance.
After a period of intense suffering, which was slowly dissolving until disappearing into oblivion, a new lightness came along with an outpouring of creativity, and this specific intention to share arose as a natural consequence of the non-dual understanding being expressed in my life.
The main idea behind it was indeed inspired by Rupert after listening to one of his podcasts in which he talked about how his ceramic art had evolved to where he was incorporating words into it, his art gradually increasing its transparency, becoming thinner and thinner, until finally it became just words, and inevitably, silence at some point.
This detail of incorporating words into ceramics inspired me deeply, and I thought: Why not do something similar with my watercolours and poems? As a result, my exhibition project has emerged. I have given it the name: ‘Poesía en Acuarela’, which translate as ‘Poetry in Watercolour.’
In this exhibition, and also in the colourful illustrated book inspired by it, each watercolour is accompanied by a poem, some of which are also included legibly in the watercolour itself. The observer thus has additional information, which means greater depth and a more complete dimension in the meaning of each work.
Poetry and watercolour have accompanied me since I was very young. Thanks to this recent initiative, I have both unified the fundamental expressions of my creativity and shared for the first time what was previously a completely intimate and personal dimension.
This personal fusion of ‘Poetry in Watercolour’ is an emotional anthology – a journey through my life and the poems and watercolours made over time. This careful and colourful edition, with all pages illustrated in full colour, has been born out of love, and has the ability to connect the reader, intimately and personally, with the common dimension of emotions and feelings we all share. In this way, something that cannot be defined with words is evoked in a delicate yet precise way within us, acting as a caress or balm for the soul.
With this book, we immerse ourselves in a multisensory world of images and words that invite silence and introspection. Through the book and the exhibition, I express and share what lies inside of me, hoping that it will be an inspiration to others. That’s the main thing that moves me all along. My intention and the meaning of my artistic creation are as important as the personal perception and interpretation of the observer. What I share here with you is a little window into myself, a mirror in which you could easily see yourself reflected back.
The exhibition, and the book that accompanies it, are dedicated to my father, Fernando Hidalgo, who a few years ago left this place to live permanently in my heart. He was a kind and peaceful man, as well as an intellectual, an avid reader, and, as a young man, a painter and a poet. He was the one who gave me my first watercolours and the art books with which I taught myself the watercolour technique. Several of his poems are also included in the exhibition and the book, which is written in Spanish, my mother tongue.
There’s always a time for everything under the sun.
Thus, after the search, comes the encounter. This encounter with myself has meant the most-important transformation of my life. Just like the butterfly that comes out of the chrysalis and after so much time learns to fly, so I have been able to be reborn from the ashes and find my place in the world. And in that rebirth, sharing has come as a natural impulse.
Now everything takes on an unexpected meaning, and something that I have been doing for many years only for myself has now become shared, taking on additional dimension and meaning.
I am now at a moment in which my calling is to share that which I have found within me, and that was already there from the beginning. My art and my words are my unique way of bringing back to the world everything I have learned, intimately and personally, with the sole objective of being an inspiration to others so that they can also touch their deepest dimension.
I have put so much love into this project that it seems like an extension of myself, and so every time someone enters the exhibition hall or opens the book they are actually entering my self only to discover, with surprise, that it is also their own self in which they can now go deeper.
It is that common dimension that this work touches, the emotions and feelings common to all, which are found beneath the apparent differences that separate us, and goes even beyond, to the dimension we all share, to our true nature.
It seems that the essence of the non-dual teaching, the essential attributes of our self, are being delivered through the images and words, as they evoke peace, beauty, innocence and other similar qualities in the viewer. How beautiful is that?
In our essence, we are true peace, love and joy. I am experiencing the same quiet causeless joy for the first time in my life by sharing my Being.
I have finally found my place in the world, the unique way to share everything I have inside, to inspire others. I have finally come into contact with the happiness that lies within me. I have finally understood that, as Rupert states in one of his books: ‘I am that happiness I have always been looking for.’
Light is emerging into my life through my watercolours, and I am becoming transparent with it, my inner self shining more and more. Life has become colourful, full of poems and watercolours. And ‘poetry in watercolour’ has become my life.
I am finally Me. I am where I need to be, finding myself inside, but also out there in the world, surrendering to life, flowing with it, with no agenda or any personal motivation, just out of the love of pure sharing. Poetic encounters, uniting to share our writings, reciting with live music, meditative and evocative spaces – it seems I am bringing the joy of the non-dual retreats into my daily life.
In essence, being inspired and inspiring others.
Abidance and friendship.
The subsidence of questions into silence.
How could it be otherwise?
A true blessing.
Infinite gratitude to Rupert Spira, whose exquisite personality is a living embodiment of the non-dual teachings he expresses. I couldn’t think of a better friend or clearer vehicle for the perennial understanding.
With much love and gratitude,
Silvia Hidalgo (Daya)
