“I was among the first in my family to go to college,” artist Salvador Dominguez says. “Years after graduating, I began to realize the biggest challenge was going to be sharing the work I make with those closest to me.”
When artwork is so deeply intertwined with id, a profound irony can type when making an attempt to share it with family members who haven’t had entry to the identical sources or classes in Western artwork idea and historical past. Even when the work itself is rooted in shared tradition and household connection, how do artists bridge this hole?
The Chicago-based artist confronts this query in a sequence of hand-woven vessels titled Mano de Obra. Paying homage to a nostalgic vibrancy from his upbringing in southern California and Mexico, the sensible colours inside Dominguez’s work function cultural markers. Recollections of vividly painted homes and colourful statues inside nook shops and carnicerias, or butcher retailers, information the artist’s use of shade and sample, every element tethered to his sense of id.
Pipe cleaners—that are pretty accessible and simply acknowledged by each kids and adults—proved to be a transparent alternative as Dominguez contemplated totally different supplies to work with. Weaving every slender, fuzz-covered wire into practical vessels enormously alters the worth of the fabric in an enchanting approach and evokes a well-known atmosphere by which the artist was raised, the place commerce and craft had been used interchangeably as forex.
Lately, Dominguez has begun to show his mom, Silvia, the weaving methods he developed with pipe cleaners. He shares:
Her labor inside home life typically went unseen, however her creativeness got here alive via craft and embroidery. By involving her on this inventive course of, I not solely honor her contributions but in addition attempt to keep our connection, remodeling her labor into a visual and valued a part of the work. I stay interested in how this collaborative effort has the potential to bridge the hole between generations, significantly since we reside in separate elements of the nation.
To remain impressed, the artist additionally collects a slew of home objects. From his mom’s hand-embroidered tortilleros to family textiles like pillowcases and desk runners from Indigenous artisans from Mexico, Dominguez’s assortment of treasured items influences type, sample, and palette in his personal work. Although he has encountered these articles since adolescence, turning to them for analysis has established a brand new, distinctive relationship with the acquainted objects.
Dominguez is anticipating a gaggle exhibition in Antwerp, Belgium this Could. Discover extra work and updates on the artist’s web site and Instagram.
