Soft sculpture: recycled materials (donated, hand cut and manually flattened aluminum coffee capsules and bottle seals), copper wire, staplesI create... Read More
Soft sculpture: recycled materials (donated, hand cut and manually flattened aluminum coffee capsules and bottle seals), copper wire, staples
I create metallic sculptures from discarded materials which are often malleable and soft. These sculptures unfold into installations. This manual labor connects me to the materiality around me. As I work by repetition and accumulation of operations and of materials, I get gradually immersed in pure action and presence, and eventually, I forget myself. In these moments, I often channel something unexpected, and this is what is exciting about working: making not knowing, conquering the fear of not really controlling outcomes, accepting little accidents, unexpected paths, and surprises.
‘Zaratan’ brought upon a scale in which the problem of accumulation becomes self-evident. Reusing industrial materials in large scale addresses the problem of consumption, trash, ideas of luxury and status, and what society holds valuable versus what it deems irrelevant and disposable. If I am able to rescue the value of what is defined as expendable, then I am able to suggest a shift in this hierarchy. This change in perspective can result in a greener approach to the world, to culture and to nature.
Part of the Sharp garments for desperate shamans series, this sculpture is named Zaratan; in Jorge Luis Borges Book of Imaginary Beings, Zaratan is described as a sea creature of such immense size as to be confused for an island, attested to by sources in Anglo-Saxon, Irish, Persian, and Greek literature and folklore, among other cultures.