KOIL IX

“KOIL IX” is the name that the artist Pio Cabanillas gave to this series of Digital Photography in 2019. Digital print, Fine Art Paper. Mounted in a display case, with a 20x40 mm tinted architect-style oak wood frame, tinted oak display case cover and wooden back. The copies are glued on Dibond with a neutral pH adhesive. In Tamil, “ koil ” means temple, the home of the divine presence where the faithful come with their offerings to receive the good influence or blessing of the gods. The photos in this series were taken in one of the sacred temples of Kanchipuram . The faithful make pilgrimages there with their votive offerings, and the Brahman ascetics who renounce their worldly life live by begging. However, the faces of the women, their looks and gestures reflect feelings that transcend religious ritual. There is another life for them in the temple. It is a meeting place, where they eat, where they pass on their teachings to the young girls, where they meditate or rest before returning to the outside world. It is the refuge where their soul and dignity become free, and where the photographer can capture their tragic condition, the resignation, the fatality or the disenchantment and suffering that mark their faces.