Luisa Rodríguez
Mike Nelson, 'Cloak of Rags'
Doris Salcedo, 'Thou-les'
Untitled
Cast in pewter
12 x 10 x 2 cm
With the idea of creating a world within the narrative of something that is forgotten, I contemplated the possibility of combining found, discarded materials of demolished architecture with casts of similar objects. The idea came from immersive installations such as those of Mike Nelson or Michael Dean, both who combine casts with real objects but most specifically those by Nelson which particularly reference elements of architecture.
The transformation of an object with a likely tragic story into a shiny replica, was informed by Doris Salcedo's steel sculptures. Pewter was an ideal material to explore given that it's final appearance is smooth and reflective almost looking like silver. Not any similar in value, it is deceiving to the naked eye. In the Americas pewter is widely used, or a version of it, as in some occasions it contains a mixture of tin from old cans.
At the same time it's reflective appearance pretends to create links with the legend of mirrors being given to the indigenous in exchange for better resources.