CLUSTER II on SW1 Gallery

On Tuesday October 23rd 2012 opens CLUSTER II in SW1 Gallery (http://www.sw1gallery.co.uk), a group show with Brazilian, Argentine, Venezuelan, Colombian, Mexican and British artists, exhibiting in the second in a series of exciting mixed media shows in London.

I am in the same room with Kate Bradbury, Rodrigo Souto Bueno, Christopher Campbell, Geoff Diego Litherland, Graham Carrick, Daniel Medina, Marcus Cope, Mauricio Fallini, Dominic Hawgood,  Garry Hunter, Cipriano Martinez, Stephanie Moran, Gustavo Ortiz, Emily Wilcox, Adolfo Perez, Clare Price, Manuel Sanmartin, Lucietta Williams and Esteban Peña.

This collective is being curated by Mas Civiles Manuel Sanmartin and Graham Carrick, together with  Fitzrovia Noir’s Garry Hunter, Westminster Arts and the SW1 Gallery.

As I m writing this blog, trying to have it ready for the Private View on Wednesday October 24th 2012, the show is all ready: all work hung, all the sculptures set and the floor scrubbed. It looks good. I am proud to have been invited.

Sanmartin (http://www.masciviles.com) and Carrick work very well together, they know how to hang a show. I like curators that have a natural talent for creating a dynamic dialogue among diverse works of art. And they do it so smoothly, no dramas, just the mandatory bucket of coffee and the bacon sandwich.
 

Owen Ward, artist and director of the gallery, is amazing and such good sport, with that essential good eye for positioning work. I can see why he is at the front of this elegant space.

On this occasion I am showing an old favorite (of mine at least), my velvet soldier from 2005-07, which I have shown at least in 5 other occasions. I said is a favorite work of mine because is still a seminalt work in my creative process. Here it is, in the best shot I had been able to take of it (with Owen passing by, handy to show the scale). It looks stunning, the space does it justice, at last!

But I am very excited for the other work also. They are 23 individual plaster sculptures, that I started making 2 months ago.  The making was really intense and difficult, a constant fight with the technique. I had to learn as I went along, so the first pieces are extremely fragile, while the rest got stronger as I proceeded.

People keep asking how I made them. And I respond that is good I am making a video that hopefully will shed some light over the process.

These pieces are in all sense the continuation of my very first sculptures, the ones I made in the art school that I call concrete paintings. These later pieces are the better, more sophisticated version of those first sculptures.

How do I start? I use a wooden mold / frame, 13 cm depth . This mold goes on the floor on  top of a protective material. Inside this frame I made a composition using clay and toys. I trap the toys in the clay, half way in the clay, in order to trap them with the plaster once I pour it in. This composition is a negative of the final result. I sealed  the edges of the bottom of the frame using decorators caulk, so the liquid plaster wont escape when I pour it in. I prepare the plaster and add 1 part of white Portland concrete, in the hope it makes the pieces a bit stronger. I pour the mix in and let it dry.

The next day, depending of the weather, I take the frame off and turn this white box of plaster over, upside down. What I have them is a blotch of clay in the middle of a box of plaster. I proceed to take the clay out, taking great care to trying to remember what toy was where, so I don't break them o pull them out accidentally. I wash the piece and clean as much as I can. Another day, once is a bit dryer, I look a this hole or holes left by the clay and proceed to try to make sense, geometrically speaking, of this cavities. I carve using a  small chisel, sometimes I hammer a bit but most of the time I use the chisel pushing with my hands. As I carve there is inevitably a sense of a archeological excavation of sorts, or the shaping of a house, making door frames, windows, portals and arches that themselves frame the toys. The toys appear to be in a permanent confrontation, which each other, with themselves.

I sand the pieces and use filler to make the surface very smooth, and undercoat the toys, and spray-paint all using masonry paint. And more often than not, the sculpture breaks here and there, and I try to incorporate the breakage into the final product, transforming the accident into intention, since I know once the all pieces are all together, these unespected cavities will create negative spaces very valuable to the whole composition.

In order to show all the pieces I had to literally play with them as building bricks, taking the time to find out which combination works better. The images show only the composition that receives the public in the gallery. But there are sculptures also on the other side, like a double brick wall.

  
I decided to add some more text to this blog, after had lived through the Private View. I want to register the public reaction towards these new sculptures of mine. As they were positioned right by the door of the gallery, they received the public when they enter the space. More often than not, people feel compelled to approach the small wall of sculptures and, since they are quite low, almost on the floor, people also kneel and express great curiosity (I think) towards the detail of the pieces. They don't know there are toys in these sculptures, I guess, not at first glance, and some think all has been cast in plaster or else. They are technically very intriguing. The people then move around, usually "reading" the group right to left, and continue to inspect the composition at the back, which contains less pieces.

I had he opportunity to talk with some members of the public, puzzled as they were about technique and intention behind the sculptures. Since I usually shy away from revealing too much of what lies beneath of what I do, i do concentrate on talking about the technique, which in this case, has provoke  a lot of questions. But then I realized that as I was on the floor with members of the public, they became playful, recognizing the toys they used to play with. They connected with my own time playing with the toys while I was doing the compositions with clay. I realized that my playfulness came through and reverberated even in the gallery.

Sculpteurs et Jardin, Brussels, à Hanzinelle

‘Sculpteurs et Jardin’ (http://www.sculpteursetjardin.be) ran from May 28^th to June 5^th, on the ground of Hanzinelle, a 18^th century chateau 1 hour from Brussels.

The members of the Hayez-Ijak family organized this event, who are themselves contemporary art collectors. The event did show great sensibility towards displaying the work on show on the grounds, and looked professional, beautiful and perfectly organized. Any profit of any sales was destined to the foundation Sanaa Sasa, in collaboration with En Avant des Enfants, that works for orphans in Congo.

I was pleasantly impressed walking around the grounds, enjoying not only the carefully kept gardens and meadows,

but encountering high level of work.

Starting in the barn where indoor work was located

(works by Olivier LELOUP, Philippe BRODZKI and myself, sculptures and large format drawings),

the walk continued around the pond towards the chateau where several metal works were located (Philippe BRODZKI, Catherine FRANCOIS and Kinga et Anatoly STOLNIKOFF)

Leaving behind the chateau, there were a few small bronzes by Bernard HAUREZ in the ziggurat, and sitting perfectly in the smallest pond was a big piece by

Odeaubois.

By the edge of the pond, a devil like figure by Jean-Claude SAUDOYEZ

lead to an installation of several other figures.

Walking towards the green house, hanging from several trees, mushrooms

like structures by Elodie ANTOINE. In the glassless green house, there was an installation by Jean – Guy CLOSSET that celebrated

the importance of the chateau as a forge mill; a inconspicuous garden shed housed a rather surprising and refreshing installation by Dominique Ijak.

Coming back towards the edge of the pond, a series of works by Marianne LEMAIRE and Florence FRESON, in blue stone favoured in Belgium, and slate, lead to metal pieces by Christina JÉKEY that hang from trees or were placed on the floor.

The walk continued towards the works by Rose-Marie WARZEE that emerged from the meadows, and took us to small to medium scale pieces by Jean MORETTE. After that, with the chateau across the pond, works by the late Nic JOOSEN were scattered on the largest area available. Which was more than appropriate given the monumental scale of these pieces, whose negatives space framed the landscape around them.

The ‘tour’ as such, ended with bronzes by Félix ROULIN, a very popular Belgium artist who is very present in many squares around Belgium.

Overall, one could feel the sensibility that informed the placement of each one of the works included in this event. Or appreciate the efficiency of the organizers, and Jacques’ well-honed marketing skills behind all. I am certainly grateful and honoured to have been invited to participate.

As I am writing this, the very day of the closure, I don’t know how the Hayez-Ijak evaluate the experience, or if there are any planes to repeat the event somehow. Could we hope for a biennial?

Intervention Art Trail / Fitzrovia Noir

http://www.fitzrovianoir.com

Fitzrovia Noir Art Intervention Trail (http://www.fitzrovianoir.com), was launched on April 2^nd and finished with Easter.

What was it? Art by 22 artists was placed in shops, pubs, houses and on the very street on Fitzrovia, central London, to form a trial that was more like an art treasure hunt: it started on Westminster University (with my piece) on Wells Street and finished on Percy Street. with Paul Snowdown.

As treasures hunt go, this one was great fun, and the art was very very good most of the time (only very few pieces made me question the effort and we only missed or couldn't locate 3 works).

As we started with my piece and the mandatory photographic session, we followed the map of the trial: the first work must mention was Angus Ogilve’s, that made us realize we were in a arty treasure hunt. Finding it was tricky but worth it. You can see the images in http://www.fitzrovianoir.com/page3.htm.

Garry Hunter’s photo in the designer furniture shop was perfectly located, even matching the colour scheme…I must mention also Lucy Williams photographs inside a café in Charlotte Street, or the absolutely wonderful miniature chewing gum paintings along Tottenham Street by appropriately named Chewing Gum Man. Or try to find Gustavo Ortiz’ small sculpture inside a pub, or his other piece and that of Manuel Sanmartin in Pollocks Toy Museum, or Valerie Joseph’s poetry along Scala Street. or really enjoy viewing Daisy Richardson videos in probably the most appropriate location: the window shop of a video shop…

That was another treat; to discover Fitzrovia (the very central part of London) and , for me, unknown magic places such a Pollocks Toy Museum. For £5 one can tour this miniature museum and marvel at its collection.

I understand this is a biannual event and, if this year comprised 22 artists, I think the curators/artists of Fitzrovia Noir are planning to double the participants artists and shops/locations

Showing my velvet soldier / Exhibiendo mi soldado de terciopelo

In English:

In March I had the opportunity to show ‘I Wanna Be…’ in the AVA gallery, in the University of East London, as part of ‘A Moving Exhibition’. (www.amovingexhibition.com).

This work of mine has a special place in my creative process. It dates from 2005 and is part of the soldier and camouflage series, which still is ongoing. There is a whole exhibition contained in that series alone, and I should try to organize a proposal for some place soon.

This work is part of a ongoing reflection about the media: since war is something that occupies considerable space in newspapers and other media, so I continue to come across with images that are constantly feeding my imaginary of war and weaponry

The piece is about contradictions, between the apparent and the obvious. It’s based on a image of a charging British soldier the first year of the Iraq invasion. I worked such photo endlessly upside-down for a year. From that period I produced a great deal of large-scale works on paper of this image that got initially my attention formally. Yet one day I turned it around, and saw the face of this man , and I saw fear in his eyes. I didn’t know if he was dead or alive. Here lied in front of me possibly a father and a husband, a son, and brother, a grandson or a boyfriend. And I started thinking about his humanity, and about all those whose lives passed in front of our eyes in the news, and from whom we’ll never hear again. Those names, which we don’t know and will never, know.

Yet, these soldiers have as a trade the possibility to take lives in their on hands, to be one with their gun.

‘I Wanna Be…’ is sober and quite blunt in its statement. On one hand, we have the mutual affirmation among the crimson of the velvet of the body and backdrop, and the suggested red of the bloody trade of the soldier. On the other hand, we have the implicit absurd of the use of a textile that is soft to the touch, suggesting the domestic, antique, and interiors with low lighting, whisperings or polite soft conversation (as in a church); while the image of the charging soldier remains all too clear, and so its implied capability for destroying and producing unbearable noise. The attractive softness and plush backdrop in velvet hold the formal game of the soldier’s body, in which the organs blend with the gun, forming one tight unit.

En español

En marzo tuve otra vez la oportunidad de exhibir “I Wanna be…’ (Quisiera ser…), en el marco de ‘A Moving Exhibition’. (www.amovingexhibition.com), en la galería AVA de la Universidad del Este de Londres.

Esta obra mía tiene un lugar muy especial en mi proceso creativo. Data del año 2005 y forma parte de mi serie, aún vigente, de soldados y camuflaje. Sé que en la misma está contenida toda una exhibición, y debería organizar muy pronto una propuesta.

Esta pieza es parte de una reflección de los medios: ya que la guerra es un tema que aún sigue ocupando un espacio considerable en los periódicos y en los medios en general, yo continúo encontrándome con imágenes que alimentan constantemente mi imaginario de guerra y armas.

‘Quisiera Ser…’ versa en contradicciones entre lo aparente y lo obvio. Está basada en una foto de la prensa de un soldado británico, el primer año de la invasión de Irak. Trabajé la foto cabeza abajo durante un año de una manera costante, y durante este período produje una serie de obras sobre papel de gran formato. Pero un día volteé la imagen, y vi la cara de este hombre, arma en mano, con miedo en sus ojos. No sabía si después de un año estaba vivo o muerto. Ahí estaba, frente a mi, la imagen de un padre y un esposo, o un hijo, hermano, un nieto o un novio. Empecé a pensar sobre la humanidad de este sujeto , y sobre la vida de todos aquellos que pasan frente a nuestros ojos en las noticias, y de los cuales nunca oiremos otra vez, cuyos nombres nunca llegaremos a conocer.

Y sin embargo, entre los deberes de la profesión de estos soldados está la posibilidad de tomar la vida de otros, ser uno con su arma.

‘Quisiera Ser…’ es una obra sobria y contundente. Por un lado, tenemos la afirmación mutua del rojo del terciopelo del cuerpo del soldado y del panel de soporte, y el rojo sugerido de la profesión sangrienta del soldado. Por otro lado, tenemos el absurdo implícito del uso de la tela suave, doméstica y anticuada , que sugiere interioes de iluminación tenue y conversaciones en susurrus (como una iglesia); mientras que la imagen del soldado en pleno ataque es muy evidente, como es la capacidad implícita de destrucción y ruido. La irresistible suavidad del terciopelo del panel acolchonado sujetan el juego formal de la metralleta con el cuerpo y sus órganos vitales.

MOST RECENT SCULPTURES / ESCULTURAS MAS RECIENTES


Inglés

This blog very much follows the one before, in the sense that is about the same pieces. But a long time has passed since then and I’ve reached another resolution.

I have to thank the Royal college of Art for that because I’ve just applied for the MA in Sculpture and I wanted to included really ‘fresh’ work in the portfolio. As it happened, they were so fresh that I finished the last one two days before the application deadline, 27th January 2010!

The original idea with these pieces was to use them as moulds in order to make many paper copies, originally for that little show I had in Barcelona. The lack of time made me left the pieces half resolved: all carved, smoothed, bare timber and covered in Vaseline too.
I am much happier with the latest version though.

The pieces, the bigger ones at least, are based in little models I made in clay. The timber consisted in thick wheel-like logs. The clay models were equally rounded. I proceeded to cut away chunks symmetrically. The results were geometrical, non figurative, quite impersonal. Armed with my chainsaw, guided loosely by the models, I ended up with lively versions of the models; quite unpredictable in the sense that timber splits all too often.

I ended up with a helix, a pudding and a group of malformed breasts.

The thing about embracing failure and making the most of unpredictable splits is that the results are unexpected, surprising and a revelation.

All these pieces are related to a previous, non-figurative sculpture of mine, ‘Feathers, Fur, Veins, Scales’. They draw on suggestions and have clear organic references, even though there are not figurative. I am very curious about this because I am a figurative painter, and don’t see the point, in my case, of being any different.

I wanted the pudding to be similar to ‘Cabeza’, which the only piece that was instantly gratifying: after painting it black, I carved a drawing on the surface. But I carved that pudding so much I had to paint it all black afterwards.

The helix was meant to red, but the timber was so horrible that wasn’t possible to get any smother finish, so I carved all the surface and paint it white. I quite like it…
And regarding the breasts, the timber was so horrible at the flatter ends that, in order to cover the mess, I knotted some black wool around it, in a very cathartic way. This piece is probably my favourite.
Their names are Blanco (White), Negro (Black), Gris (Gray) and Cabeza (for it weights as much as a head!)

Spanish

Este blog es la continuación del anterior, ya que se trata de las mismas piezas. Pero ha pasado mucho tiempo desde entonces y he alcanzado una resolución totalmente diferente.

Tengo que agradecerle al Royal College of Art por ello, ya que acabo de mandar mi dossier para el master de escultura. Queria incluir obras ‘fresquitas’. Y las obras estan tan frescas que apenas terminé la última dos días antes de la fecha de entrega, el 27 de enero!

La idea original consistía en usar estas piezas como moldes para hacer muchas copias en papel, que iba a incluir en aquella exposición que tuve en Barcelona. La falta de tiempo me obligó a dejarlas sin terminar: todas talladas, lijadas, sin pintar, y cubiertas de Vaselina.

Estoy mucho más contenta con la última versión.

Las tres obras más grandes, están basadas en unas maquetas que hice en arcilla. La madera que tenía consistía en tres troncos, que parecían tres ruedas muy gruesas. Partiendo de maquetas de estos troncos, empecé a cortar pedacitos de una manera simétrica. Terminé con figuritas muy geométricas, que no eran figurativas, y muy impersonales. Con mi motosierra, y quiada por aquellas maquetas, terminé con unas versiones un poco inesperadas, ya que la madera se había agrietado previamente.

Terminé con unas piezas que parecían una hélice, una gelatina y un grupo de tetas malformadas.
La cosa de asumir fallas y usarlas y darles la vuelta es que los resultados son inesperados, asombrosos, y mucho más interesante que los que uno había planeado, y una revelación.

Todas estas piezas están relacionadas con una obra previa, “Plumas, Pelo, Venas, Escamas’. Todas estas obras sugieren más que connotan, y muestran claras referencias a lo orgánico, sin ser figurativas. Este último aspecto de mi escultura más recientes me llama mucho la atención, ya que como pintora yo uso la figuración, y no me ineresa para nada incursionar en la abstracción en mi pintura.

Mientras progresaba con estas últimas piezas, yo quería que la gelatina fuera como ‘Cabeza’, la pieza más pequeña y la única instantaneamente gratificante: después de pintar de negro parte de su superficie, dibujé sobre ella con una gubia. Pero me pasé tallando la gelatina tanto que no me quedó otra que seguir tallando y pintar de negro todo.

La hélice iba a ser roja, pero la madera estaba tan agrietada que decidí tallar toda la superficie, como en la gelatina, y pintarla toda de blanco. Me gusta así…

Y, respecto a las tetas, la madera también estaba tan horrible en las partes más planas, que para cubrir los defectos usé lana negra, haciendo nudos de una manera muy catártica. Esta obra es una de mis preferidas.
Las he lamado Blanco, Negro, Gris y Cabeza (porque pesa tanto como una cabeza!)