Peruvian artist Jaime Miranda-Bambarén moves between sculpture, performance, and video with a devotion that borders on ritual. His practice is rooted in the dialogue between matter and myth, where wood becomes a vessel for memory, transformation, and spiritual continuity. Working with reclaimed eucalyptus roots salvaged from the highlands of Peru, he bridges the ancient and the contemporary, the sacred and the urban.
His recent installation, “13 Moons”, stands before New York State’s Supreme Court like a constellation of relics unearthed from another world. Each massive root, shaped by time and ritual, carries the weight of both landscape and legend. For Miranda-Bambarén, art is not representation but testimony—a gesture of offering, a way of returning what was taken.
In this conversation, he reflects on discipline and imagination, on the dialogue between Peru’s ancestral myths and New York’s civic symbols, and on the invisible forces that inhabit his monumental forms. His work reminds us that creation, at its core, is an act of faith.
An Interview with Jaime Miranda-Bambarén
By Carol Real
You move between photography, video, performance, and sculpture. How would you describe the thread that unites all these disciplines in your practice?
I define myself as vehement and disciplined like a soldier that takes care of
his own imagination.
Your creative process feels both meditative and investigative. Where do your ideas begin, and what keeps them evolving?
I am permanently reviewing the archives (photos, videos, text, etc.) of the ongoing and past projects and searching for clues or missing gaps in the symbolic constellation of these visions. In the most secluded places of Peru, if you spend some weeks, or even months, dreams and objective-world start to blend, and magnificent narratives unravel.
Do you listen to music while working, or do you prefer silence in the studio?
I prefer no music in the workspace. I give my studio assistants a call minutes before I arrive so they turn the music off. I need to look and experience the work in a neutral state of mind so that there is no manipulation by music. We all see it in the movies. Music is all about manipulation of emotions and I aim for a cleaner experience of the object.
Your sculptures often begin with massive pieces of reclaimed wood. How do you find and select those materials?The valleys on the coast and secluded places in the highlands of Peru, especially in the areas of Pisco, Huancayo, Cajamarca, Ayacucho. I have a team of explorers and collaborators that spend months searching for the biggest tree stumps. These pieces in NY are probably the largest and oldest eucalyptus tree stumps of Peru. We salvage the remains of plundered trees. And it is interesting to know that an essential part of the process of sourcing this material are the rituals and offerings given to a very specific mythological creature, the Muki – some kind of Satanic goblin that guards the underground treasures all over Peru. Part of the work, are the videos documenting this experience and you may find them on this link: https://13moons.nyc/videos/
What gives you the greatest sense of fulfillment as a sculptor?
Capturing testimonies and moments where I sense there is some sort of
enlightened experience.
Your installation 13 Moons at New York State’s Supreme Court is striking in both scale and symbolism. What does this project represent to you?
This site-specific sculpture installation is called 13 Moons. There are 13 sculptures made out of single piece reclaimed eucalyptus roots. The installation began on the Summer´s Solstice, 21 st June, and will end on the
Day of the Dead, November 1 st . Between those dates, The Hand of God or Nature will do the final patina, through rain, the Sun, pollution, and being present to the experience of NYC.
What would you like to see happen next for 13 Moons?
I will live in New York until November and plan to visit my installation and talk to people there every day.
I would like to find an adequate place to permanently install these 13 sculptures. This is an unrepeatable work of art due to the unique source material it is made of and the context of the installation. I chose Foley Square due to the symbolic density of its surroundings; the history of New York is condensed in its Civic Center. It would be a lost battle for me and even the people of NY if the 13 Moons do not find a place in the city. I am confident someone will read this, see the opportunity, and write me with an interesting offer.
Is there a quote or idea that continues to guide your work?
A combination of two quotes, perhaps:
“The madness has to find somewhere to run wild.” ~Iain Sinclair
“Imagination is man’s divine embodiment” ~William Blake
Editor: Lisa Portscher
https://www.instagram.com/lisaportscher/
