MIGUEL VILCA VARGAS was born in Arequipa, a city in the South of Peru, in 1975. He studied at the Carlos Baca Flor fine arts school in Arequipa. At the end of the 1990s he traveled to the Amazon jungle and settled in Pucallpa, where he began his relationship with the Shipibo-Conibo culture. His figurative drawings, inspired by the jungle and its environment ~ mysterious and imaginary portraits of the ancestors or the terrifying spirits of the jungle ~ become a deep probe into the ancient experience and remote events kept beneath the surface in our subconscious. Vargas does not draw what we see around us. He aims to express flashes, as well as deep musings, of the inner world. His drawings are an attempt to show the depth of our own soul, and what lies dormant inside each one of us. The theme of his work revolves around his own experience and imagination on social and ancestral issues of the Amazon world; and vividly illustrates the clash between the Western world and the Amazon lifestyle, providing a detailed view of the cultural intersection in all its complexity. He is nicknamed, Búho (Owl).

What Búho himself says about his work:

" want my paintings to be the mirror of our own face, the portrait of real life. I want to look at ourselves as we deny it and capture the moments of delicious and terrifying silence at the same time. To do this I take advantage of some of my fantasies and experiences of the jungle, memories of myself as a pilgrim through my own internal labyrinth. The paintings are silent and at the same time talk about the past about the present and the future in a universal language, human words are useless. Since the beginning of all ages the main theme is man and woman – the masculine and feminine principle. The common point is creation, the two principles are attracted to it and repelled at the same time.

The weather in those places means nothing, there reigns the vagueness and humidity of the air that reaches almost 100%. The environment of the ancient forest with trees older than modern civilization, with plant species from the time before the first evidence of man, that environment with its colors and dark corners, with the frightening sounds that freeze the blood, with the singing of birds hidden from view, with the waving of mischievous mosquitoes and clouds of happily buzzing mosquitoes, with such humidity in the air that it is not worth wiping off the sweat. A place, where one sinks to the past, to the world of silent ancestors. Place full of spirits and fear of the unknown. A disconcerting place. On the one hand full of life and exuberant vegetation, on the other hand permeated by death that is ubiquitous but without which life would be meaningless. Space, where people still live, who, thanks to their ancestral tradition and experiences transmitted from one generation to another, are capable of communicating with other worlds, inaccessible to us, civilized. A place that does not yet distract one with the products of modern civilization, a place where one can be with oneself, a place where the natives do not know what the word bored means."

Miguel Vilca Vargas

View the artist's works, with the artist biography and more on his perspective offered at the bottom of the page.

For viewings and pricings, please contact us.

Wood Turned Into Pencil, 2024.

Pencil on paper in wood frames, 80"x 60" , Peru.

Words from the artist on the piece,

"To breathe in sepia and black in the midst of this greenery, you need an excuse, a story or to witness many. A fantasy that revives testimonies of abandoned and forgotten people who are discovered in their humid and exotic nature, showing us their bodies that eat the myths and sweat them, dry the pores of their existence between redemption and sin, betrayal and love, the fear of punishment and the longing to find the light... that is why we evoke the classics so we avoid false shamans and incomprehensible icaros;

Alone as they came alongside a story, the same story that later made them break their spirit, so we refer them to the happy dance of the Shipibo world creating a dialogue between the classic and the exotic...the river and the shadow travel the same way.

This dialogue is with the deepest places, questioning our weaknesses and fears, a mirror of our true subconscious, because we need to follow the footprints of the river until we find the YACURUNA, see the SNAKE naked, taste the meat of the MAIDEN fish and also know how to read MAPACHO smoke, are escapes to continue breathing in times when perhaps only by dreaming do we resist this journey against reality.

So after visiting new rivers, trying new flavors and trying to build a MALOCA where there is no jungle, it will always cause injuries; Sometimes the being that came from heaven can abandon you on the journey towards the eternal... then there again all that remains is to dream about your grandfather, who taught you how to survive among the murky waters and the endless stormy nights, who teach you how to row on a RIVER WITHOUT WATER...I turn off my last MAPACHO."

AXE - La Luna, 2023.

Pencil on Paper, 40"x 30", Peru.

Words from the artist on the piece,

"Have you ever felt the aroma of the night by the river? In the midst of thousands of sounds I can only hear your breath very close, like a cloud of mosquitoes approaching my skin, like a storm that begins to speak this way. I hear your breath, this is how you talk to me... I think you knew me even before I come into this world, I came out of your breath."

Andamos El Mismo Camino, 2023.

Pencil on Paper, 30"x2 0", Peru.

Words from the artist on the piece,

"Not only do we breathe the same jungle, we also cover ourselves with the same designs, our skin, although it has a different texture, touches the same trees and feels the same night sweat, there in that green immensity we walk the same path."

Yanpuma Icaro (Healing Song of Black Jaguar), 2022.

Pencil on paper, 30"x 40", Peru.

Words from the artist on the piece,

"A malicious look or a contaminated wind can be the beginning of an evil there in the invisible green of ancestral memory - the ONAYA must make use of melodies and magical remedies to heal the patient - the baby needs help from the black jaguar to return to be happy, OTORORONGO ONANYA - YANAPUMA MURAYA will repeat the old healer to remove the child's fear."

Volando - El Aroma del Rio (Flying), 2021.

Pencil on Paper, 20"x 30", Peru.

Words from the artist on the piece,

"To be next to the river and want to fly, to be next to the river and feel its aroma…to fly and to fish… That's how you taught me since I was a child."

P

Yakuruna Fiel (Yakuruna Faithful )

(Left and Right), 2021.

Pencil on Paper, 20"x 40" (left and right panel together), Peru.

Words from the artist on the piece,

"It was time to return and try to breathe another nature, one less humid and with a river without water, yes, there are no lakes or abundant rain to be able to exist, to get out of the bottom of the river... it was impossible not to miss you, the most forbidden place succumbs before your face... I saw you every time I went to your cathedral and listened to the liturgy hidden under your wings.... (the being drawn is a sculpture that represents the subdued demon, it is inside the cathedral of Arequipa in the south of Peru) ) the yakuruna always returns to the bottom of the river."

NOTE: This is two separate drawings, mounted together as one. They are not sold separately.

Liberated (Freedom) (Left and Right). 2020.

Pencil on Paper, 22"x 40" (left and right panel together), Peru.

Words from the artist on the piece,

"Going back to the seed in the face of the external chaos was the only way out, going into the lakes and creating a wall of trees to breathe better, this is how we survived the disease that was not ours."

NOTE: This is two separate drawings, mounted together as one. They are not sold separately.

Memorias, 2021.

Pencil on Paper, 20"x 30", Peru.

Words from the artist on the piece,

"Read the clouds and remember the path taken to get here… I also try to read your memories to understand how to get back."

La Esfinge (The Sphinx), 2023.

Paper on Pencil, 30"x 40", Peru.

Words from the artist on the piece,

"Here on my knees in front of you, I read your lines to understand my destiny, to know my previous life and my possible dreams within you is the indecipherable power of eternity, you are here still intact without being able to break your path on this eternal river of life."

De la Serie del Cielo al Rio (Antes del Icaro), 2023.

Pencil on Paper, 20"x 30", Peru.

Words from the artist on the piece,

"You came from heaven in the form of incomprehensible melodies and voices... until I learned to decipher your sound, now I sing your language, the one that penetrates my mind and remembers the day I received them... in the middle of the river on the side of the infinite green."

Aliento es Vida, 2022.

Paper on Pencil, 20"x 30", Peru.

Aliento Es Vida is a beautiful and unique artwork that celebrates the power of breath and the indigenous Shipibo culture. This collage features a stunning image of a Shipibo woman wearing her traditional dress and her mask on. Alongside a painting of lungs with the ayahuasca snake coiled around them, representing the healing properties of this powerful plant medicine. This artwork is a powerful reminder of the importance of breath and the connection between our physical and spiritual selves.

Eres El Primer Rostro Que Veo, 202-(?).

Pencil on Paper, 20"x 30", Peru.

Words from the artist on the piece,

"You are the second voice I hear when I was born, the first is my mother; But you are the first face I see, I saw you before I was even born, I saw you when I didn't even exist."

A Night With The Spirit of Otorongo, 2022.

Pencil on Paper, 20"x 30", Peru.

Words from the artist on the piece,

"Give me more than I can drink from the river, give me everything I need to never see you secretly again.....this way we will become an infinite night....not to return never."

La Primera Vista, 2022.

Pencil on Paper, 20"x 30", Peru.

Words from the artist on the piece,

"Yes, I was able to see you before coming to this world but it is time to share, time for you to teach me your secrets, your ways and also your fears."

The Dream of the Last Yacruna, 202-(?)

Pencil on Paper, 20"x 30", Peru. IN PRIVATE COLLECTION.

La Visitante Una Historia de Placeres Forzados, 2023.

Pencil on Paper, 60"x 50", Peru. IN PRIVATE COLLECTION.

Words from the artist on the piece,

"The young Amazonian is seduced by a better future, they offer her a happy life and the end of her misfortune, a long trip through the mountains will be the beginning of this new life...... Other strange and different places from her beloved jungle await her. but the promises of happiness will be false because she will be forced to work in something unwanted, the new beautiful territory in the eyes of any stranger will be hell for her, forced to obey the new owner who tricked her out of her town... They saw her at the foot of this volcano for the last time, then no more was heard from her. She probably ended her days in the gold panning in another unknown jungle. They are waiting for her at home until now."

Individual Expositions

• 1998 “lnstantes Previos” – Centro Cultural Chéves de la Rosa – Arequipa

• 1999 “Primeros Sintomas” – Centro Cultura! Chéves de la Rosa- Arequipa

• 2004 “Arte Contemporéneo” – Museo de Arte Contemporéneo -— Cuzco

• 2000 “Caminos de Arena” – Galeria MPCP — Puca?pa

• 2009 “Amazon Art” – Lumaki Museotila — F inlandia

• 2010 “Quodlibet del Buho” – Ztikla Kiika Galleria — Rep. Checa.

• 2012 “Selva Metafísica” – Galería Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores—Lima

Collective Expositions

• 1997 “Jóvenes Valores del Arte” – Galería del Banco Continental
  “Homenaje a Gamaliel Churata” – Centre Cultural Cháves de la Rosa Arequipa

• 1998 “IV Salóm Nacional de la Acuarela” – Alianza Francesa.

• 2000 “Libertad de Expresión” – Instituto Cultural Peruano Alemán

• 2001 “VIII Exposición de Arte Amazónico” – Teatro Municipal de Pucallpa
  “Nueva Visión de la Acuarela” – Casa del Moral – Arequipa

• 2002 “I Salón de Artes Audiovisuales” – Huanchacho – Trujillo
  “V Concurso de Artes Visuales de la Embajada de Francia” – Pasaporte para un artista – Centro Cultural PUCP – Lima.
  “Diálogos” – Centro Cultural Peruano Americano – Trujillo.

• 2003 “VI Concurso de Artes Visuales de la Embajada de Francia” – Pasaporte para un artista – Alianza Francesa – Fase Regional – Arequipa.

• 2004 “VI Concurso de Artes Visuales de la Embajada de Francia” – Pasaporte para un artista – Alianza Francesa – Fase Regional – Arequipa.

• 2006 “Descentralizarte” – Museo Universidad de San Marcos – Lima

• 2010 “Exposición Festival Carnaval Ucayalino” – Pucallpa

• 2012 “Selva Metafísica” – Galería Alianza Francesa – Arequipa

• 2013 “Concurso Predicarte” – Centro Cultural KORICANCHA – Cuzco

• 2015 “Arte Contemporáneo” – Centro Cultural De Salta – Argentina.

• 2016 “Concurso Nacional de Dibujo” – Centro Cultural Peruano Británico – Lima

• 2017 “Del Tiempo de hombres y animales no se distinguían” – Galería Bufeo – Lima.
  “Madre Selva” – Galería Selva Invisible – Lima.
  “Telúrico Animal” – Galería el Muro – Lima

• 2024 "Pachamama de la Selva" - Ofrendafest - Long Island City - New York -&- Kingston Pop Museum - Kingston - New York.