LUZ CASTAÑEDA
ARTIST-SCIENTIST

Healing Leaves: The Myth of Orixá Ossanhe

The work began in the Poconos Mountains, Pennsylvania, summer of 2020. Luz was painting, and a leaf fell onto my watercolor- it was a call. For the following year, she explored different forests across the US and Brazil, searching for leaves that could create wonderous beauty on top of her watercolor.

Healing Leaves: The Myth of the Orixá Ossanhe is an original, award-winning series exploring the Afro-Brazilian deities of healing and mystery. This series of 16 photographs and 21 paintings explains the Afro-Brazilian myth of two orishas, Ossanhe and Xangô, who wish to possess the curative powers of leaves. Get to know this myth through these works of art.