We are contextual and sentimental & Meeting space(s), 2021

Sofía Salazar Rosales, We are contextual and sentimental & Meeting space(s), 2021; Depilatory wax, paraffin wax, oakum, plaster, digital print and cardboard; 26 × 108 × 210 cm

The series comprise representations of “costales,” or sacks of goods such as flour, rice and sugar.

These bags hold strongly political connotations because of their iconography, slogans and brands, connected to themes of colonialism and neocolonialism, identity, the histories of their products, as well as economic and social issues. To accentuate these works, Salazar Rosales has removed, modified, or added certain words and/or images to either make them more explicit or to grant affection to the coldness of their bodies, congealed by wax.

This work reproduces the weaving pattern of the ‘estera,’ a common floor mat used in certain places in Latin America. Typically made with totora plant, the work is instead made of cardboard, referring to the industrialization of traditional material and artisanal craft in exchange for a commonly used material in transport.

Here the cardboard becomes a relatively flat object where the idea of transport no longer exists and is replaced by the notion of support. It asks not for movement, but for congregating, sitting and staying.

Meeting space(s) were designed to accommodate the artist’s pieces and other artists’ work, and to serve as a point of gathering where weaving is activated on each visit.

Photos by Andrea Rossetti