SCULPTURES, FIBERS AND LANDSCAPES IN THE EXHIBITION OF SHIRMA CUAYASAMÍN

Moving away from representations of the natural, Shirma emits from nature itself the material that leads to the form that allows it to be. Maintaining the container character of this great matrix so that the materials contemplated are inserted into the very landscape of the exhibition. A landscape that alludes to smaller proportions of the ecosystem and industry. Large- and small-scale pieces that can deploy us and that defy categorization.

Fibers and textiles as a sculptural medium, relating them to the body and the world we live in. How do they make us feel because of their components and the energy they carry due to their origin and uses?

Shirma Guayasamín's production is created through an intuitive process to preserve the original quality of the materials collected. Both the woven structures and the objects are created from nature –whether by their form or components– allowing the works to speak about the relationship between humans and nature; how we use and control it. At first glance, the sculptures appear messy and complex, with their exaggerated expressions and diverse forms. The fibers rooted together, containing themselves, are not only matter but also landscape. Their size testifies to their material as an assertion that we are merely passing through and that what endures has always been here or is the residue of what we have industrialized.

In the installation "Residue", an arrangement of resin and rubber bands, immerses and encapsulates nature clinging to an acrylic sheet on what appears to be a wet forest or cliff wall. The items are not junk, nor decoration or vegetation, but certainly human-made. They were not randomly placed; they were intentionally allowed to appear balanced. Interestingly, these items draw attention to themselves, to the space in which they exist and the ecosystem in which they now cohabit. To some extent, the installation resembles a natural history environment, created by unnatural means.

Cúmulo brings together works from three broad series by the artist, which invite the study of both the individual elements as well as how they interact with each other. Hidden beneath the obvious appeal of the flora is a study of forms and materials that converge in her everyday resulting in sculptures that are decidedly undefinable in terms of their form.

Shirma Guayasamín (Quito, Ecuador 1957). She studied architecture at the School of Fine Arts in Paris, during which time she began working with ceramics. Back to Ecuador she opens her workshop "Tierra y Fuego", and ventures into sculpture. Together with her sister Dayuma, she held her first exhibition at the Artes Gallery in Quito (1980). She traveled to San Francisco (1995) where she studied sculpture and ceramics. Exhibited in galleries in the area. From 1998, she resided in Barcelona studying sculpture at the Llotja, School of Applied Arts and Artistic Trades. She then returned to Quito (2001), and made the solo exhibition "Cuerpos más Allá de los Límites", Centro Cultural Metropolitano (2003), presenting works in metal mesh, which integrated movement and shadow to compose fragile installations. At Universidad Central de Quito, she began with metal welding, a material that will allow her to define her predilection for large formats.

From the artistic residency "Sculpture Installation and New Media Art", at SVA, New York (2016), she turned her attention to materials that enabled her to work where textures, transparency and movement predominate, which, combined with her interest in nature, will configure "Floraciones Singulares", solo exhibition at ECX Gallery, Quito (2018).

Cúmulo. Solo exhibition by Shirma Guayasamín.

Until May 26.

Curated by Gabriela Moyano.

+Arte Gallery. Av. 12 de Octubre N26-48 and Lincoln, Mirage Building, Quito, Ecuador.