Women's crew-neck T-shirt - AMARAUNA

In Basque, AMARAUNA means spiderweb. I was looking for a title for this new creation based on the figure from Basque mythology named MARI. She is the “goddess” mother of EVERYTHING (AMA means MOTHER in Basque). What a happy coincidence!

After working on AMALUR (MOTHER EARTH), I was eager to immerse myself in the symbolism of this other entity, of which I knew little but which felt familiar to me.

The desire to create a visual centered on the figure of women, who hold a central place in Basque society, was also woven into it.

While the men spent long months crossing the oceans to hunt whales, the women managed the life of the homes, fields, and villages, weaving a protective web to sustain their families and the life of their territory. This earned them the notoriously infamous witchcraft trials.

MARI’s disciples are the SORGINAK (the WITCHES), who celebrated her in caves during the AKELARRE.

According to legend, MARI lives in the hidden, underground world, appearing as she emerges from a cave.

I chose to depict the form of the one at the HARPEKO SAINDUA sanctuary (the cave of the sweating Saint) in Bidarray. At the back of this cavern, a distinctive anthropomorphic stalagmite fuels legends and personal interpretations.

If the mother of all appears here, I filled my stroke with small drawings that are both intuitive and focused on depicting elements and figures characteristic of Basque mythology and nature.

By duplicating my drawing several times, a cross with a baroque, and therefore rather pagan, appearance emerged to create the central and main motif.

And the spiderweb presented itself as an obvious choice.

Perpetual renewal, a wonder of nature, a symbol of protective motherhood …

Having simultaneously immersed myself in personal readings about Louise Bourgeois's work, the unconscious did its work, and this creation and this word emerged—I find it very beautiful!