Tales of Silver and Gold
This series of works was started as a result of two occurrences, or references. The first one would be the book Open Veins of Latin America (Las Venas Abiertas de America Latina) by Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano (1940 – 2015). The second represents a recent trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In Galeano’s book, apart from a narrative account of the history of colonisation in Latin America, the writer provides his reader with an extensive and minutely precise account of the history of slavery and trade. One which mostly struck me was the history of the mining industry. What the reader is confronted with are pages upon pages of detailed numbers, facts and figures which form the gruesome history of these areas during the colonial period.
This represented a basis to tackle a packed historical topic and ask how it can be dealt with from today’s stance and personal perspective, without dramatising or using explicit references, but rather look at it through the movement of – silver and gold.
"183,600 tonnes of gold above the ground", 2016, gold leaf on unprimed canvas, 120x100cm,
"Cerro Potosí (The Mountain That Eats Men)", 2016, acrylic gold and silver paint, ink and oil pastel on canvas, 120x100cm
In Buenos Aires, I was reminded of the importance of history in understanding the present and ideally speaking, forming and making decisions for the future. There I observed that history is not treated as a set of static circumstances that preceded us on the path of time, but rather a live presence still in negotiation.
The works comprising this series should be seen as sorts of essays or commentaries, forming additionally between themselves, a larger discussion on the topic.
"Where is the silver?", 2016, silver leaf and ink on wood, 30x30x5cm
"And silver rivers started flowing", 2016, silver leaf and ink on unprimed canvas, 30x30cm
"Golden Ore", 2018, objects, clay, acrylic paint, dimensions variable, max. 30 cm largest object
"Golden Ore", 2018, objects, clay, acrylic paint, dimensions variable, max. 30 cm largest object