Pariwana Hostel Cusco; The Womans Journey by Brooke Lockwood in Adelaide

At the top of the stairs in Pariwana Hostel, just outside the women’s dorms, stands a woman you’ll never quite meet. She faces away, her long braid tucked beneath a traditional monteras hat, stepping into a sea of red. Where she’s going, no one knows — and that’s the beauty of her mystery. She could be any woman, any traveller, taking her first brave steps into the unknown. This mural was born from long conversations with the hostel’s designer and team, flipping through images of Andean clothing, learning the language of patterns and textures worn by women of Cusco centuries ago. We settled on a traditional style — bold, elegant, and unmistakably Cusqueñan. Around her, blossoms of La Cantuta (Peru’s national flower) bloom, and swirling patterns borrowed from local architecture dance across the wall, guiding your eye always back to her. I painted the mural during Cusco’s Inti Raymi festival, when the streets were filled with drums, dancers, and celebrations of Incan heritage. Experiencing the festival while creating this work made it especially meaningful. I was able to see traditional clothing worn in real time, capture reference photos of the different styles, and talk with locals about their traditions, all of which shaped the final design and deepened my connection to the piece