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Tillandsia

Thursday, 04 July 2019 20:39 Written by María José de la Macorra
 
The 20 Pearls is a phase of my work that I have been developing since 2008. It is a group of varied projects, one of which is a series of works done in different media whose theme is a small plant named Tillandsia schiedana.

The Tillandsia schiedana is an epiphyte, or air plant that hangs on tree branches, telephone and electricity wires in our city(ies) and in its natural habitat such as rainforests and seasonal dry forests, within an area that stretches from Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Colombia to the Antilles. While I consider it a dainty plant –you might even call it modest and unassuming–it is highly evolved, needing next to nothing to survive as it feeds on the nutrients and moisture in the atmosphere. My interest springs from the quiet beauty in its knotted, radial form that results in a fascinating structure with an energy-charged center from which brownish green leaves shoot out into space.

In this series of images, I present embroidered pieces, as well as wrought iron, patinated wrought brass, and annealed wire sculptures. My formal exploration of the plant has been going on for a number of years, starting with hand embroidery and several paper clay exercises and ending with the most recent two works in the series: a Japanese ink on paper and an annealed wire sculpture that I did between 2012 and 2013 and that speak to the kinetic strength of an object that projects itself into space to map, explore and subsequently inhabit it.
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