There will be time, there will be time/To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet.
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, by T.S. Eliot
INTRODUCTION. With sweet, effective understatement, Teresita de la Torre’s installation, Hilando Relaciones, shows how social media devalues the verb, to share. (Art, of course, encourages it.)
Picture this scenario. You learn something about yourself. Something profound, something anecdotal, just something. A building block of identity. You want to share it with someone who knows you well. A mother, perhaps. The messages vary. A relationship that ended: La misma mujer me rompi el corazon y no le pude hablar para que me consolara. (The very same woman broke my heart and I wasn't able to call you to console me.) One that’s just begun: Conoci a una muchacha nueva y senti que me podia recuperar. (I met someone new and I felt that I could heal.) Insight about your gender preference: Esta bien ser gay pero no actuar gay. (It's okay to be gay but not to act gay.) If that parent isn’t there in person or spirit, though, then what? Take to the digitsphere? A Tweet? A Facebook status update? Nah, those platforms don’t feel right.
We’re hardwired to share. Once we experience and then understand something, we want to tell someone about it. Usually, it’s something intimate. In the literal or spiritual absence of her mother with whom to share these insights, de la Torre embroidered them (in Spanish) on things she uses every day: a pillow case, a bed spread, towels. What’s extraordinary about the show is not that she’s Latina, that she’s gay, that she has some kind of relationship with the Christian Church. It’s her low-tech, old-school medium she chooses to express these thoughts. Though embroidery may by anachronistic and labor-intensive, the act of stitching is hugely symbolic. It’s a technique: she stitches these messages. Think woven calligraphy. But it’s also symbolic: you stitch to heal gaping wounds. That’s the value of these pieces. They serve as diary entries that help her deal with the vicissitudes of her life as well as to deal with the absence of her mother with whom she wants to share these vicissitudes.
WHAT’S THE SHOW ABOUT? De la Torre furnishes a space with objects from her childhood in order to create and sustain an unspoken dialogue with her mother. She embroiders these words-never-said onto such personal, intimate objects as place settings, towels, and pillow cases. Though the installation looks innocuous, its message about identity resonates and resounds long after you leave the show.
WHY DOES IT MATTER? This show gets us to think about what it means to share personal feelings in a direct and personal pre-digital way. (You want to share your innermost thoughts with 2,937 Friends. Really?)
WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT THE SHOW?
- Its creates a dynamic balance between form (utilitarian objects in a simple room) and content (identity, gender identification, religion, and family).
- It makes us think of homespun embroidery as a radical act of expression.
- It uses Arte Povera’s materials and ideas to balance to silicon-slick and omnipresent 24/7 technology.
WHAT IF I JUST HAD 10 MINUTES? Three votive candles stand on a bedside table. One candle has an image of the Virgin Mary. Sewn onto what looks like a place mat is the message: I met someone who made me feel that I could get over the other person. At first glance, message suggests the artist has met someone new, who could help her get over a failed relationship. Intriguing to ponder, though, if we didn’t know the artist: Might this muchacha she met be none other than the Virgin Mary?
WHO SHOULD SEE IT? Anyone that likes work that addresses issues of gender, identity, and absence in subtle, almost invisible formats.
THE VERDICT? This show offers a thoughtful antidote to the way we communicate and otherwise share personal information.
HOW DO I VISIT? Gallery hours are Saturday and Sunday, 1 – 4 p.m. The show runs until May 26th. The gallery is located at 602 Moulton Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90031. For more information, visit here.