Moscas
Silver
Variable dimension
2021-2022
Fundación PROA

About
Latin American art is mostly understood in relation to the tropics. But what does it mean to be an artist from the Andes mountains? What is our relationship to nature? What is the history of our natural resources in these elevated geographies?
 
The Cerro Rico sits in what is now Bolivia. From this mine and its surroundings, unimaginable quantities of silver were extracted by the Spanish Empire and transported back to Europe. This brutal extraction of extraordinary wealth lead to generational poverty and political disfunction that persists today. Sadly, we have not learned from history and thus have repeated this cycle time and again to this day.
 
As with other works, silver as a material is utilized for its meaning and historical significance. The precious metal and the unpleasant fly, the suggestion of a swarming and dispersing and the nature of the work itself ask questions about wealth and decadence throughout our region’s history.