Doris Salcedo
Doris Salcedo
Doris Salcedo was born in1958 in Bogota, Colombia,
and she earned her MFA from New York University in 1984. After studying art in
the United States, she went back to Colombia and experienced the Civil
War. She started collecting memories
from the history of people to manifest through her artwork. Her art reflects human
life affected by criminal and political violence since she witnessed violent
conflict from politics, drug trade, and the collision of rebel forces and
government. She thought these attacks and the brutality changed families of
people who were involved in this tragedy, the whole country or all the people
in Colombia.
In Atrabiliarios
(1992-1993), meaning “defiant”, Salcedo represents the terrible historical disappearances;
people would be taken to silence them or terrorize their homes. Others were
taken from any of public space by the government. She shows Colombians
suffering from losing a loved one. It is a minimalistic installation piece with
sheetrock, wood, shoes, animal fiber, and ten inches of surgical thread along
with eleven animal-fiber boxes sewn with surgical thread. Slightly irregular
rectangular boxes are embedded into the gallery wall and covered by animal
intestine fiber using the surgical thread. Shoes that were left from
disappeared women are shown through translucent animal skin. Viewers can feel
the vulnerability of people as they see the animal skin because it looks like
human skin, and they look at the history of coercion understood through the
shoes of those lost. The stitches can be a metaphor for the healing of people
who are left behind after a loved one is gone.
Salcedo believes that sculpture is materiality.
Materials make artwork, not artists. She found meaningful objects and interviewed
people who have those objects, so she gathers all information about the
material and makes a connection. When she interviewed them, she looked around
the house and found furniture that was left by those who vanished. She creates
art with left furniture, which means materials express the feelings she
experienced during research. She creates another meaning by combining found
everyday objects. They extend the metaphor and transform and become something
else. An artist can become an alchemist who serves magic for the viewers. Everyday
stuff becomes more poetic in meaning, showing not only personal loss but also
the loss in our society and for people. Art can’t help to bring back their
loved one. It has limited power but speaks to power. It can’t change the world
but helps people move to better places. Her art connects with Colombians as
they confront their tragic reality.
From her SFMOMA talk, Salcedo says that memory for
all people, such as shared memories of the Colombian people, not personal
memories, are presents in her art and we all have a painful or memorable past.
When we see the memories of pain in art pieces, viewers, and the history of
people are connected, although it is difficult to deal with how beauty and
catastrophic events intersect. She explains that art can’t solve any problems
of politics, and the artist can’t do anything for people who are victims of
social and political tragedy. However, she believes that art brings
opportunities for people to confront their piles of memories from the past.
That past helps us to live on in our present time and to face our future.
Salcedo's work is so interesting, and so deep. Works like "Atrabiliaros" help people confront their problems while exposing issues to the world. Conveying messages about the tragedies that occurred in Colombia is significant because many people, including myself, are not aware of these terrors. Her ability to use materials to communicate the missing people of Colombia really helps bring the private pain of mourning families into the public sphere. I really liked that you provided a historical background about the artist. It gives readers an idea of where she comes from and why she makes the works she does. I would also like to have heard your thoughts on the artwork and how it made you feel.
ReplyDeleteHer Honesty is one of my favorite aspects of her art. I love her introduction to the art as she understands that all she can do is inform and start a conversation. With the hope that the conversation will spread messages and create change. But what she says is very honest, as artists the work we create is very limited in terms of creating change. Her art is a reminder because like she says in the video people like to forget & remember only the very end. With great use of materials and good concepts her work can leave lasting impression which is what i consider a successful work of art.
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