About the Artist
Variously described as a priest, shaman, artist or charlatan, Pedro Marticorena Oroña Laya presides over a spiritual center and gallery called Wali Wasi, or "Hopuse of the Spirits" on the outskirts of Huancayo, Peru.
Pedro Elías Marticorena Oroña was born in the Umuto annex, Tambo district, Huancayo, on January 11, 1952. He completed his studies at school number 545 in Aza, then at the Mariscal Castilla school in Tambo. He pursued his higher education at the Faculty of Pedagogy, specializing in Art Education at the National University of Central Peru. He worked as a farmer, artist, and as an Andean priest in Huanca rituals. His works are exhibited in a dynamic and permanent living site museum known as Wali Wasi in the Umuto annex.
On one mask the artist wrote: "THE MASKS IN WALI WASI, ARE THE SPIRIT OF THE COSMOS, OF THE STARS, OF THE SUN, OF THE MOON, OF THE MOUNTAINS, OF THE LAKES, OF THE SPRINGS, OF THE ANIMALS, OF THE RIVERS, OF THE STONES, OF THE PEOPLE, ETC., ETC. PEDRO MARTICORENA"
