AN IMPOSSIBLE FAREWELL

AN IMPOSSIBLE FAREWELL
APRIL 27 - MAY 28

There is something haunting about Lara de los Reyes' art. They often deal with memory, the kind that persists. The same sense can be felt at her latest show at 20SQUARE, An Impossible Farewell, which opens on April 27, 2011. The artwork is exceptionally personal, and goes hand-in-hand with the intimacy of the space.

There is more to be forgotten than to be remembered in this life, but sometimes we choose to hold on to the things that we are better off letting go. Like stone, it is the heaviness of memories that makes these permanent.

The exhibit features sculpture in wax and marble: the former, a soft material, the other enduring. In wax we find the artist’s self-portrait. In marble, often associated with permanence, we see shape of a pile of letter envelopes. The wax material is sensitive: easily scratched and melts when exposed to heat. In marble, memories linger even if the artist, as a human being, is prone to change.

There are also images woven with the artist’s hair on old jusi placemats, napkins, and coasters. Lara has been collecting the hair her body has naturally shed over the years. Already decorated, the domestic jusi cloths that she uses are embellished further with her hair. The dark strands stand out against the off-white color of the material and tell of stories of joy, peace, loneliness and tragedy through words and images.

She lets go as the strands of hair become something else. Sewn, they are micro-stabs into the jusi with the assistance of a pointy needle; invading another material. It is a violent process but the movement, smooth and repetitive; the sensual material tamed by an activity that is feminine. Mesmerized by the process, it is simultaneously communicative and meditative.

Words by Iris De Ocampo; Image: Lara de los Reyes, Poorly Imitated After You, 2011