By Jorge Gomez de Mello
Patricia Villalobos Echeverria was born in Tennessee, United States and grew up in Nicaragua, got her master’s in Art at the University of West Virginia, in 1990. Her work has been a hybrid practice that includes engraving, photography, video and installations; which explore reproductive ways of representation that try to modify our notion on individuality and question our relation with the environment.
She claims to be very happy and pleased for this invitation to participate in the eleventh edition of Havana’s Biennial, because this is going to be her first opportunity to modify at large scale the front and inner walls of a building, and this one is special since it’s the venue of Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center, institution that organizes the event.
When we arrived in, we found her in the top of a scaffold working on the final details of her installation, and she immediately described her work for AxE News’ readers…
«The installation is part of a series of works in which I modify exhibition grounds, museums or galleries. The building is gradually taken by the sculptures, just like a viral being is reproduced as rash. As the matter of fact, during the first Triennial of the Caribbean (2010), I showcased one work from the same series, titled Salpullido (Rash), at Santo Domingo’s Museum of Modern Arts (Dominican Republic).
«The piece is also a sort of camouflage, since you look at the building and you don’t notice anything unusual because everything is painted in the same color of its walls, but during a second look you realize that something is ´taking´ the building as a toxic being, and the idea is that the person standing in front of the work can realize that what seems to be harmless, like a toy, has actually contaminated large areas of the building. This installation is also made up of a sonorous background that oscillates in a range from inoffensive sounds, such as pop songs, to aggressive sounds, violent sounds, sounds of war, helicopters, etc.; so it stands for the same idea: some things that seem to be innocuous can become aggressive, the best intentions can cause incredible damage. My work always falls between the playful and the offensive, oscillates between both projections.
«Sistema, the title of this installation that was conceived to be showcased in Havana’s 11th Biennial, was created by following the geographical coordinates of Wifredo Lam Center, just like in previous series. The coordinates can be used to locate us in a map, they are what we use to find a place, to find ourselves, but in this case they make reference to the sight of violence, aggression, like when you are located by a war plane in the middle of a conflict.
«The title, Sistema, plays with the English term cyst and Spanish word tema (theme), an allusion to power relations, not only at political level, but also among individuals. My parents were Salvadorians, I was born in the United States, lived and grew up in Nicaragua and I returned to the United States to study in the university, so my personal experience is marked by the contamination. I’ve been contaminated by different cultures, by different contexts, and I kind of contaminate the places I visit with my experience.»
