Headlands Center for the Arts

In Project Space: July 10–August 24

Artist Statement

I find a special interest in the analysis of economical systems and how this determines life function, analyzes monetary exchange and the social creation of value, focusing into both essential and complex financial activities, but always relating the human emotion that is implicated in them. I’m also attracted to the observation of the transformation of value through time, seeking for the aesthetics in economical tools like coins or gold, and other highly symbolic elements that help me speculate about equivalents between material, symbolic, social, historical, and economic value in every day life.

While At Headlands

Gold mining around the world continues, and with it, the natural heritage and culture of many communities are suppressed by an insatiable quest for great economic benefits. The environment and ancestral communities continue to be deceived, abused, or massacred in some cases to exploit the land and its resources. American Indian communities were no exception during the gold rush in California, when indigenous communities in the region were reduced radially, along with a large number of animal species. My project will seek to draw attention to the environmental impact of the practice of mining in the world, taking as a starting point traditional feather art, while using a recent tradition in the state of California: contests for the imitation of birds.