Statement For The Gold of Your Horizons.

My current project consists in the partial obliteration of objects that are fundamental to the construction of a cultural identity. Examples of these are memorabilia, cultural or religious figures (including mythological, folkloric, historical, or artistic icons) and prehistoric or ancient artifacts that aid in the invention of an ancestral past.

How important are these objects (or subjects) in the long run? How easy or how difficult is it to forget them? The poporo, a Muisca statuette, the Tahíno words in my vocabulary: patata, tiburón, maíz, bohío; and the Arabic ones: algarroba, aceite, limón, arroz. Do we remember the functions of these tokens accurately or do we construct them? Do we modify them to fit our ideologies or even our tastes? Am I entitled to my mother’s memories? Do I inherit my past or do I reinvent it? How does collective memory function? These are questions that I ask myself constantly.

The Icon and the Pall: The subject, or “icon” is either displayed in its physical form, or recreated in an academic painting style. Part of it however, is veiled by glazes or covered by thick smothering paint reminiscent of petroleum in viscosity and of nail polish in color.

Within the project entire series can be created based on theme, such as prehistoric artifacts, divas, buildings, etc. The selection of these objects is based on my own personal history, but when viewed as a body of work these objects speak of a universal feeling of memory and loss. The majority of the reproduced images are taken from photographs, real objects, or video stills. They speak of nostalgia but also of fear and rejection to one’s own past.