Seba Calfuqueo, born in 1991 in Santiago, Chile, is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice combines video, photography, and performance. Through their Mapuche heritage, they offer a critical reflection on the cultural and political dynamics shaping Indigenous identity within contemporary Chilean and Latin American societies.

Their practice deconstructs the anthropocentric view of the landscape, questioning environmental rights through a First Nations perspective. A member of the Mapuche collective Rangiñtulewfü, Calfuqueo has participated in the Venice Biennale (2024), the Whitney Biennial (2024), and the 34th São Paulo Biennial (2021).

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Alga parda

Seba Calfuqueo is both a witness and an active participant in a process of social and environmental transformation within the Mapuche community to which they belong, in rural Chile. Mining exploitation—embedded in an economic model inherited from colonial history and reinforced by the privatization of land and water—profoundly alters this people’s relationship to landscapes. In Mapuche thought, the living world is not divided: humans, water, stones, and plants are part of a shared equilibrium, a relational weave in which each element holds its own presence. Hair, often present in Calfuqueo’s work, becomes an extension of the body—a symbolic root connecting the individual to collective and territorial memory.

In Alga parda, the human body merges with a coastal landscape of rocks and brown seaweed. Hair blends into kelp, dissolving the boundary between body and environment. This fusion produces an ambiguous image in which it is no longer possible to clearly distinguish what belongs to the human or the vegetal realm.

The rocks evoke both the coastline and dry-stone walls—stone accumulations that serve as shelters for multiple species. The body itself becomes a form of shelter, an extension of the landscape. The undulating shapes of the algae extend the lines of the body, creating a visual continuity between flesh, stone, and plant life.

The work proposes a vision of interdependence in which the human is no longer central but embedded within a larger system. In contrast to extractivist logics that fragment environments, Alga parda affirms another way of inhabiting the world: a relationship of listening and reciprocal transformation between bodies and their surroundings.

Devenir troncos

Seba Calfuqueo is both a witness and an active participant in a process of social and environmental transformation within the Mapuche community to which they belong, in rural Chile. Mining exploitation—embedded in an economic model inherited from colonial history and reinforced by the privatization of land and water—profoundly alters this people’s relationship to landscapes. In Mapuche thought, the living world is not divided: humans, water, stones, and plants participate in a shared equilibrium, a relational weave in which each element holds its own presence. Hair, often present in Calfuqueo’s work, becomes an extension of the body—a symbolic root connecting the individual to collective and territorial memory.

In Devenir troncos, the body appears to literally take root in the forest. Half-buried under a carpet of leaves, it merges with the soil and the surrounding tree trunks. Hair, woven along the branches, rises and branches out like ivy or aerial roots, extending the human presence into the vegetal space.

This hybridization suggests a slow, almost imperceptible transformation in which the body becomes landscape. The image does not depict a simple immersion in nature, but a true metamorphosis: the human ceases to be distinct and becomes one element among others. Hair, assimilated into a root system, evokes a deep memory inscribed in the earth and transmitted across generations.

In a context marked by extraction and territorial fragmentation, the work proposes a form of poetic resistance. It reaffirms an organic bond with the ground, countering logics of exploitation that uproot both environments and communities. Devenir troncos thus becomes an image of continuity, where identity unfolds within a living network of invisible connections between bodies, vegetation, and memory.

Quintral 1

Seba Calfuqueo is both a witness and an active participant in a process of social and environmental transformation within the Mapuche community to which they belong, in rural Chile. Mining exploitation—embedded in an economic model inherited from colonial history and reinforced by the privatization of land and water—profoundly alters this people’s relationship to landscapes. In Mapuche thought, the living world is not divided: humans, water, stones, and plants participate in a shared equilibrium, a relational weave in which each element holds its own presence. Hair, often present in Calfuqueo’s work, becomes an extension of the body—a symbolic root connecting the individual to collective and territorial memory.

In Quintral 1, the body is partially covered with a blue fabric, while the hair is braided together with a flowering plant in vivid red tones. This composition creates a strong contrast between colors and materials, structuring the image into two distinct zones.

On one side, the fabric suggests separation, a form of protection or distance. On the other, vegetation invades the body, clinging to it and growing upon it. The red flowers, woven into the hair, form an organic crown that connects the human to the vegetal world.

The work stages a transformation in progress, where boundaries become porous. It proposes a vision of the body as a territory traversed by multiple forces, and highlights the possibility of coexistence based on interrelation rather than domination.

El reflejo del lago

Seba Calfuqueo is both a witness and an active participant in a process of social and environmental transformation within the Mapuche community to which they belong, in rural Chile. Mining exploitation—embedded in an economic model inherited from colonial history and reinforced by the privatization of land and water—profoundly alters this people’s relationship to landscapes. In Mapuche thought, the living world is not divided: humans, water, stones, and plants participate in a shared equilibrium, a relational weave in which each element holds its own presence. Hair, often present in Calfuqueo’s work, becomes an extension of the body—a symbolic root connecting the individual to collective and territorial memory.

In El reflejo del lago, the body rests upright on a tree trunk, while in front of the face a calm water surface acts as a mirror. The posture is peaceful, almost meditative, suggesting a relationship of attentiveness and contemplation.

In the Chilean context, where water is largely privatized, this representation takes on a political dimension. What appears here as a space of calm and sharing is in reality subject to logics of appropriation and control. Does the person holding the water merge with it, or possess it?

The work proposes an image of reciprocity, in which the human does not dominate but coexists with the elements. In the face of systems of appropriation, El reflejo del lago reminds us that water is прежде all a space of relation, a link that connects living beings.

Through this image, Calfuqueo draws attention to the fragile balances between beings and their environment.

Hualles

Seba Calfuqueo is both a witness and an active participant in a process of social and environmental transformation within the Mapuche community to which they belong, in rural Chile. Mining exploitation—embedded in an economic model inherited from colonial history and reinforced by the privatization of land and water—profoundly alters this people’s relationship to landscapes. In Mapuche thought, the living world is not divided: humans, water, stones, and plants participate in a shared equilibrium, a relational weave in which each element holds its own presence. Hair, often present in Calfuqueo’s work, becomes an extension of the body—a symbolic root connecting the individual to collective and territorial memory.

In Hualles, the body merges with a group of tree trunks, to the point of almost disappearing. The tones of skin and bark blend together, making distinction difficult.

A braid crosses the image, unfolding from branch to branch. It acts as a guiding thread, connecting the different elements of the landscape to the human body. This line suggests a pathway, a circulation between forms of life.

The body is no longer a center but one point among others within a complex network. It becomes an integral part of the forest, absorbed by it while still remaining present. This is a transformation, a fusion between body and nature.

In the face of extractivist logics, Hualles affirms another way of existing: not by appropriating territory, but by inscribing oneself within it, in continuity with the forms that compose it.

Pillan

Seba Calfuqueo is both a witness and an active participant in a process of social and environmental transformation within the Mapuche community to which they belong, in rural Chile. Mining exploitation—embedded in an economic model inherited from colonial history and reinforced by the privatization of land and water—profoundly alters this people’s relationship to landscapes. In Mapuche thought, the living world is not divided: humans, water, stones, and plants participate in a shared equilibrium, a relational weave in which each element holds its own presence. Hair, often present in Calfuqueo’s work, becomes an extension of the body—a symbolic root connecting the individual to collective and territorial memory.

In Mapuche cosmology, mountains are living entities, often associated with spiritual forces. They belong to a world in which the visible and the invisible coexist.

In Pillan, a photomontage fuses the human body with a mountainous landscape. The back merges with the lines of the relief, while other fragments of earthy ground appear to overlap with the sky.

This composition disrupts spatial and bodily reference points. The body becomes landscape, and the landscape becomes body. Hair extends this fusion, integrating into natural forms.

The work evokes a force that is both physical and symbolic. The term “Pillan” refers to spiritual energies linked to natural elements, reinforcing this dimension.

Pewen

Seba Calfuqueo is both a witness and an active participant in a process of social and environmental transformation within the Mapuche community to which they belong, in rural Chile. Mining exploitation—embedded in an economic model inherited from colonial history and reinforced by the privatization of land and water—profoundly alters this people’s relationship to landscapes. In Mapuche thought, the living world is not divided: humans, water, stones, and plants participate in a shared equilibrium, a relational weave in which each element holds its own presence. Hair, often present in Calfuqueo’s work, becomes an extension of the body—a symbolic root connecting the individual to collective and territorial memory.

In Pewen, a photomontage combines the human body with vegetation composed of cacti. The torso becomes a surface of projection for these organic forms, whose spines and fruits evoke a transformed form of hair.

The face is absent, shifting attention to the body as a space of transformation. This absence reinforces the idea of a collective identity beyond the individual.

The cacti—plants adapted to arid and harsh environments—introduce a dimension of survival and adaptation. Their presence on the body suggests an ability to persist despite hostile conditions.

The work stages a hybridization in which the boundaries between human and plant dissolve. It proposes a reading of the body as territory, shaped by environmental conditions and political transformations.

Folil

Seba Calfuqueo is both a witness and an active participant in a process of social and environmental transformation within the Mapuche community to which they belong, in rural Chile. Mining exploitation—embedded in an economic model inherited from colonial history and reinforced by the privatization of land and water—profoundly alters this people’s relationship to landscapes. In Mapuche thought, the living world is not divided: humans, water, stones, and plants participate in a shared equilibrium, a relational weave in which each element holds its own presence. Hair, often present in Calfuqueo’s work, becomes an extension of the body—a symbolic root connecting the individual to collective and territorial memory.

In Folil, the body is completely buried in sand, leaving only the face visible. Hair, mixed with seaweed, emerges from the surface and traces lines on the ground. These lines form the word “folil,” which means “root” in the Mapuche language.

This gesture inscribes language directly into the landscape. Hair becomes a tool of writing, but also an extension of the body toward the territory. It materializes a continuity between the individual and their environment.

The burial of the body suggests both disappearance and rooting. It is not an end, but a transformation—a return to the earth.

The seaweed, intertwined with the hair, reinforces this circulation between terrestrial and marine environments. The work evokes an expanded sense of connection, beyond visible boundaries.

Folil thus proposes a reflection on memory and transmission. By inscribing the word “root” into the landscape, Calfuqueo affirms the importance of invisible ties that connect beings, and invites us to reconsider our relationship to territory as a living, continuous relation.