Clarissa Tossin: Ch’u Maya

The title of Clarissa Tossin's 2017 video Ch'u Maya is a reference to an ancient pigment, translated as "Maya Blue." The Mayans used this waterproof pigment on their temples and pottery, both for its beauty and its long-wearing color. This same hue is used on Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House in Los Angeles, which not so coincidentally incorporates elements of Mayan architecture in its own construction. Tossin filmed choreographer and dancer Crystal Sepulveda as she performed ritual movements on and around Hollyhock House. Clad in a jaguar-print catsuit and blue sneakers, Sepulveda reclaims the house as a Mesoamerican space in a modern city. The seventeen-minute long, single-channel video shows on a loop in gallery 301 of the Saint Louis Art Museum (1 Fine Arts Drive; www.slam.org) as part of the New Media Series. Clarissa Tossin: Ch'u Maya can be seen Tuesday through Sunday (November 1 to January 19). Admission is free.