Review

A review of Marcela Díaz: En Trama, Textile Sculpture from Mérida, Yucátan

Marcela Díaz, "Hacinadas," bundles of henequen fiber hand woven on a hook, installed on iron structures, variable dimensions, 2006. Photo: courtesy of the gallery

Cara and Cabezas Contemporary
Kansas City, Missouri
March 20 — May 29, 2010

The inviting, homespun feel that the woven construction of the sculptures in the Cara and Cabezas Contemporary gallery’s exhibition Marcela Díaz: En Trama entices the viewer to ponder their meaning. Many of the sculptures are woven with henequen, a fiber that comes from the agave cactus, was used by the Mayan people, and became a major export for Mexico during the 1800s. The decline of henequen after World War I left many Mexican workers jobless. Knowing the history of this material, as well as a few hints from the titles of the sculptures themselves, gives a clearer understanding of the social, historical, and emotional concepts embodied in Díaz’s work.

Hacinadas (Stacked) is an installation comprised of 30 or so human-like woven forms. Each small figure stands no more than 30 inches high, letting the viewer tower omnipotently over the figures huddled tightly together in a corner of the gallery. The faceless crowd is defined only by the variation of the hues they are dyed. To represent the workers who found themselves with out a way of life after the fallout of the henequen industry, Díaz constructs their bodies from the material by which they made their livelihood, while simultaneously emphasizing the fabric’s disuse by using it to create a nonfunctional piece of art.*

In the opposite corner, purposely hidden in shadow, the deep blue sculpture, Omitidos (Omitted), sits silently as a testament to all to which a blind eye is turned. By displaying this sculpture without any direct light and by arranging the anthropomorphic woven shapes in a simple pile in the corner of the gallery, the sculpture itself can be easily passed over without garnering much attention, much like the way many people in this society are intentionally overlooked. The homeless, the impoverished, or people with physical impediments can all be seen as represented in this small, solemn, but deeply moving sculpture.

Marcela Díaz, "Infanticido," cotton string worked by hand, thorns, and plastic dolls, 138" x 60" x 60", 2009. Photo: courtesy of the gallery

Breaking from the henequen fiber weaving technique, two hanging sculptures, Infanticido (Infanticide) and Infancia (Infancy) are constructed from voluminous braids of cotton string hung from metal hooks that dangle from the ceiling. Both sculptures also make use of small plastic trinkets in the shapes of babies, the kind used as party favors at baby showers, baptisms, or other gatherings, and each one is inscribed with a different blessing. Although the two individual pieces represent polar opposites, they share very similar constructions, the small plastic babies hanging in clumps from each sculpture and decorating the floor underneath.

Infanticido (Infanticide) has one difference — the bold red braid that wraps itself around the lower white masses of cotton like the entrails of some beast that dangles in the window of a butcher’s shop. Underneath the sculpture, the small plastic babies litter the floor like ripe fruit that has fallen from the tree. Among them are large masses of thorns picked from the agave plant and fashioned into small, painful-looking balls. This sculpture presents a less historically based emotional response and relies on the visceral reaction one gets when faced with a representation of such an act as killing a child.

Infancia (Infancy), on the other hand, offers an alternative view of the life of children today. The cotton is left undyed, allowing the pure white of the material to act as a testament to the ideas of innocence and purity. The strands, laden with plastic trinkets, hang heavy over a large pile of the same small effigies. While obviously referencing abundance and fertility, Infancia (Infancy) also hints at the idea of overpopulation, with the heap of toy children seemingly growing as their producer (in this case, the biomorphic cotton form from which they spring) can no longer sustain both them and the thousands that still cling to it.

Díaz returns to the henequen weaving technique in arguably the three most successful pieces in the exhibition. Artifice I and Exhalación II, and Exhalación  III imbue an oftentimes dichotomous mix of emotional responses. Artifice I hangs 10 feet from the gallery floor and still the bottom hem of the loosely woven dress easily reaches it. Equally ominous and ethereal, the slate grey color of the fabric and the way in which it is woven suggest chain mail. Though this association can bring up ideas of imperialism, the sculpture's height and litheness hint at the omnipresent or fantastical. Its loose construction also adds to this by reinforcing the idea that although it is a massive structure, it has a weightless, airy quality.

Marcela Díaz, "Exhalación II," henequen fiber woven by hand on a hook, thorns installed on iron structure, 43" x 24" x 20", 2008. Photo: courtesy of the gallery

Exhalación II and Exhalación  III, on the other hand, have a definite place in the space they occupy. Their biomorphic, conical forms could be seen as representative of dresses but also have an ambiguity about exact nature of their existence; it is unclear whether these were made by someone — or if they are some sort of life form in their own right. Exhalación II is similar to Exhalación  III, but with its soft red hue and the thorn-free tangles of rope spilling from the top, conjures feelings of elegance and sensuality, even a certain sense of pride, as the sculpture stands firm in its space, unabashedly reveling in its own form. Exhalación  III retains the fiber's natural color, a golden brown, and spews from an opening at the top of its form an array of henequen rope full of agave thorns. The ropes don’t touch the floor and resemble some underwater tuber from which an insidious stalk has sprung.

Marcela Díaz’s exhibition En Trama employs materials and historical elements that are specific to the land that she comes from. Cara Megan Lewis, curator of Cara and Cabezas Contemporary, describes the connection with the materials that people from Latin America have when they view these sculptures, something that is not present when viewed through others’ eyes. But the emotional connection can still be felt, and once a basic knowledge of material and history is gained, the success of this exhibition can be readily understood.

Note:

*The work is non-functional in comparison with ropes, twine, sacking, or other utilitarian objects the fiber is used for.

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