Sacred Bloom
2025 Street Wise Mural Festival
Assisted by Ursula Zia
Location: North facing wall of residential outbuilding in the alley, 1804 Pine St, Boulder, CO 80302
Photos by Jeff Goldberg, Yukai Tomsovic, Allyson Burbeck, and Leah Brenner Clack
“Blind as a bat, mad as a hatter, red as a beet, hot as a hare, dry as a bone, the bowel and bladder lose their tone, and the heart runs alone." This mnemonic often learned by medical students reveals the toxic effects of the seemingly beautiful datura flower pictured in Paula Camacho’s mural for #2025SWMF.
Paula paints a bushy datura plant in the center of the mural. The white trumpet-shaped flowers spring upward from the large dark green leaves. Most of the flowers appear open, while a few remain curled closed. Floating stones encircle the datura, framing the plant against a surrounding mountain range. The sun sets across the blue sky, reflecting pink and orange on the clouds and the mountain peaks. The position of the wall sets the mural’s mountainscape against the backdrop of the Flatirons, allowing the viewer to extend their vision of the scene from the wall into reality.
Closer examination of the mural reveals several mysteries within the scene. A small red circle appears above the datura plant. Is it the setting sun? A large circle extends from the datura plant, surrounding the small red circle and distorting the mountainscape. What is this shape? The rocks appear to float around the plant, but how?
Belonging to the nightshade family, datura species are extremely poisonous and psychoactive. Commonly grown in North and South America, many Indigenous peoples used it medicinally and in various sacred ceremonies. However, the entheogenic plant is highly dangerous and could lead to death if consumed improperly.
Paula seeks to construct naturescapes that embody the concept of transformation through nature’s ability to invite the ego to surrender. Her work often deals in the realm of the metaphysical, a reality beyond what is commonly perceptible by the senses. Through subtle distortions and mysterious elements, Paula reveals how the datura plant overwhelms the senses and encourages transcending reality. Sacred Bloom uncovers the joy often found in letting go.
About the Artist:
Paula Camacho is a Colombian-born, Miami-raised multidisciplinary artist based in Denver, Colorado. She is currently working toward becoming a full-time mural painter, and is also training to become a permanent tattoo artist. Her constructed naturescapes savor the concept of change/transformation by artistically exploring various ways in which the spirit of nature beckons the ego to surrender itself to an infinitely greater scheme. A profound reverence for nature’s complex, entropic perfection is the animist intensity that is integral to her process.