“THE TRANSITION FROM DICTATORSHIP TO DEMOCRACY CORRESPONDS TO THE IMAGE THAT DISAPPEARS IN THE PRINTMAKING PROCESSES (ETCHING) AND THEN REAPPEARS (PRINTED ON THE PAPER). MY WORK CALLS TO THE NEED FOR A SEARCH FOR JUSTICE AND TRUTH, WHICH BY NO MEANS IS FINITE OR TERMINAL, BUT RATHER AN INITIATIVE THAT EXISTS IN AND WITH TIME."
INDIGNITY & RESISTANCE IN THE FOOTHILLS OF THE ANDES.
A CASE STUDY OF VILLA GRIMALDI, CHILE [2015]
Edition Size: Varied Edition of 50
Medium: Monotypes, silkscreen with glass beats, inject
Dimensions: 10.0 in W x 13.2 in H x 1.2 in D (closed), extend to 130/ 25.5 cms W x 33.5 cms H x 3 cms D (closed), extend to 3.3 mts
Binding Type: Accordion book, Japanese binding, long stitch
Collections: Centre Pompidou, Paris; Centro por la Paz Villa Grimaldi, CHILE; Klingspor Museum, Germany; Stanford University Libraries, CA; Library of Congress (LoC), DC; The University of New Mexico (UNM), NM; Columbia Special Collection, NY; Amherst College Collection, MA; Scripps College, Denison Library, CA; Smith College, MA; University of California at Irvine (UCI); Bainbridge Museum of Art; School of the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston Tufts University; University of Delaware Library; Private Collectors.
This Artist book is a research project based on one of the most symbolic and emblematic torture centers during the dictatorship in Chile called Villa Grimaldi. Through testimonies of survivors, visual archives, conversations with family members of the Disappeared, and the support of Villa Grimaldi’s board.
The book has two written sections, and one illustrated. The written part comprehends an introduction of Villa Grimaldi; the list of the victims that were murdered at the center; names of DINA collaborators; testimony of victim, Gladys Diaz; and several quotations of other survivors taken from the center’s archives. The technique used is mono prints etching and screenprint, and the shape of the book resembles a circular accordion. On one side of the book—the front side— several illustrations represent prisoners while tortured by DINA agents, showing also the solidarity between the victims. On the other side—the back—a long print of the Andes Cordillera, which surrounded the Villa, is depicted with glass beads.
In an effort to show what happened both inside and outside the center, the structure of the book unfolds and converts into an illusion of the inside, while in the outside the figure of the Andes reflects how life continued no matter what occurred inside the wall. In the inside of the circular shape, some tortures techniques are depicted, such as the following: Road of Death; corvi houses; railroad tracks; blindfolded way; and forced labors.
Exhibited at:
National Center for Contemporary Art, Santiago, Chile, 2024
BIMA Musuem, Bainbridge Island, WA, 2023
Lipani Gallery, Fordham University, Solo show, 2023
The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA, Solo show, 2023
SMU University, Dallas, Texas, 2023
Widener Gallery, Hartford, CT, Solo show, 2023
Delaware University, DE , 2023
Trinity College, Hartford, CT, 2020
Museum Meermanno, Solo show, The Hague, Netherlands, 2019
Galeria Animal, Solo show, Santiago, Chile, 2019
National Archives, Santiago, Chile Solo show, 2019
BRIC Arts Media, Solo show, Brooklyn, NY, 2017
Center for Book Arts, New York, NY, 2017
Embassy of Chile Gallery, Solo show, Washington D.C., 2016
Cultural Center of Antofagasta, Solo show, Santiago, Chile, 2016
The Cole Art Center, Nacogdoches, TX, 2016
College Book Art Association, Nashville, TN, 2015