ON THE NAME
I work under the name hijadelacoca, a name that carries an Andean genealogy of knowledge and transmission.
On my father's side, my family traces its roots to Huancané, in Peru's Altiplano. My great-grandfather belonged to a lineage of Aymara coca leaf readers, a longstanding practice through which coca leaves are consulted for guidance, interpretation, and spiritual orientation. This knowledge was later passed to my father, together with other Andean ritual practices—including mesadas, baños de florecimiento, and limpias—that understand healing as a relationship between body, territory, and collective energy.
I continue to learn from this living tradition under my father's guidance, particularly through the annual celebrations of the Virgen del Rosario in Huancané, where these practices remain part of community life.
By working under the name hijadelacoca, I acknowledge this lineage while recognizing it as an ongoing source of learning rather than inherited certainty. The name situates my artistic practice within a broader genealogy of memory, translation, and cultural transmission that continues to shape how I understand materials, knowledge, and the world.