#3 opens the Countdown series, a trilogy exploring the emotional states generated by the various forms of pressure and normalization that permeate contemporary society. Inspired by a personal experience of resistance, the artwork reflects the ways individuals strive to preserve their integrity when confronted with forces that seek to impose expectations, frameworks, or models of conformity.
A fracture cuts through the heart, releasing a vivid flow of red, magenta, orange, and bluish tones. This dynamic current symbolizes vitality, resilience, and the inner force that endures despite adversity. At times intense and at others more fragile, it reveals the fluctuations of a resistance constantly put to the test, oscillating between self-assertion and exhaustion.
The black and yellow adhesive tape embodies an external force of constraint. Presented as an attempt to repair or stabilize the wound, it seeks to contain this energy and close the rupture. Its role remains deliberately ambiguous, existing somewhere between protection and domination, support and control. The darkened areas suggest places where pressure has left its mark, where certain parts have faltered without entirely surrendering their vitality.
As the first chapter of a symbolic countdown, #3 tells neither a story of defeat nor of victory. Instead, it captures a moment of tension in which the struggle remains unresolved, where vulnerability and resistance coexist. The artwork invites reflection on the visible and invisible mechanisms that shape individuals, as well as on the capacity of each person to preserve their uniqueness in the face of forces that seek to standardize and reshape it.
Created with hand-tufted merino wool mounted on a painted MDF panel, the artwork combines fluorescent acrylic paint, ink, carded wool, and adhesive tape. At the intersection of textile art, sculptural relief, and contemporary mixed-media practices, #3 explores themes of inner resistance, vulnerability, and the persistence of vital energy when confronted with forces that attempt to contain it.
