Quinta Essentia N°8 / prima materia

Heavy duty burlap bags, used for exporting goods such as coffeebeans from Third World countries, are the protagonists of this series of works called 'Quinta Essentia'. Through the wound of a cut, QUINTA ESSENTIA N ° 8 reveals its true hidden nature, the Primal substance. The artist acts like an alchemist, alluding symbolically to the possibility that in every material, even the poorest, there is a divine spark. In the alchemical studies this divine spark is described as ‘PRIMA MATERIA’, a substance that permeates the whole unmanifest universe. If we translate this alchemical process into a social context, it becomes clear that any stress a society or individual faces can usher in a catharsis bringing forth its intrinsic preciousness, thus the ‘prima materia’.