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Artworks
Sandra Monterroso Guatemalan, b. 1974
Expoliada II, 2016Dyed and colour-fast thread with wood mount155 x 143 x 12 cm
61 1/8 x 56 1/4 x 4 3/4 inFurther images
'Expoliada II' is a large installation of three hanging rows of vibrant yellow thread. Throughout her practice, Monterroso uses colour according to Mayan cosmology: black represents West, white is associated...'Expoliada II' is a large installation of three hanging rows of vibrant yellow thread. Throughout her practice, Monterroso uses colour according to Mayan cosmology: black represents West, white is associated with the North, red is the East, and yellow represents the South. By expressing her own identity through Mayan symbolism, Monterroso replaces the erased Mayan cosmology and history in Guatemala. 'Expoliada II' recalls Monterroso's earlier video diptych, 'Colorando y Decolorando las Hebras' (2011). In this two-part performative action, Monterroso is first seen in an art gallery, bent over her steel pot where she is dying threads yellow using traditional Mayan techniques. Later, she is on the bank of a river, scrubbing the yellow threads clean with the fresh water. The two scenes – and Monterroso’s impossible attempt to wash the yellow dye off the threads in the river - represent the way in which our identity and cultural history are an irreversible part of ourselves.Provenance
Direct from artist studioExhibitions
Sandra Monterroso : Dyed in the Wool. Cecilia Brunson Projects, London. 19 June - 30 August 2020
