María Ignacia Walker
Santiago, Chile. 1984Artist Statement
Through wearable art, I
have found a way of communicating, conveying, remembering and rethinking what
we are and once were. My pieces are the fruit of an intimate exchange with my
body, which involves exploring old memories, bodily losses and constant renewal.
I feel deeply captivated by the body’s physical and psychological ability to
store and abandon. What do we hold on to and what do we forget? In my work, I
contemplate what the body preserves. Freezing the cycles of these processes to
produce objects that honor the parts of us that have perished. Seeing what’s
regenerated or cast aside instead. I create with skin, cells and hair, elements
that are subject to day-to-day renewal and that are linked to our ethereal
beings.
The
body as a reflection of the self
By Elisa Massardo.
Art curator and editor of Arte al Límite
By Elisa Massardo.
Art curator and editor of Arte al Límite
Sometimes, María
Ignacia Walker’s work seems to be a constant exploration of herself, a
perpetual pursuit for self-awareness that will never end, as the more she
lives, the more she’ll have to discover. However, her work stretches far beyond
her own body or existence. In fact, it’s a constant, commendable and poignant
quest to figure out who we are as human beings, as people with memories,
experiences, emotional and physical losses, with feelings that often keep us on
the edge of sanity. What are we, how are we shaped, and how do we choose what
to keep, store or leave behind?
The body has never been a mere physical entity, it’s much more than that: it’s the undeniable connection between our emotions, spirit and matter. This bond is so indisputable that during the pandemic, with generalized confinement, we can link the physical pain we’ve experienced to a psychological origin. A large portion of the population has gained weight, lost hair, and fallen victim unthinkable diseases “just because”. Our physical body is a pulsating reflection of the self, that ethereal being we can’t place, yet can’t deny.
This unending link that shapes us as individuals, gives us our autonomy and even our personality, is precisely what Maria Ignacia explores through hair, cells, and ultimately memory. Everything that affects us, everything that we don't need and we purposefully or unconsciously decide to forget or to leave behind, is captured in Flor de Piel, All About Time and On Memory. These series demonstrate her work’s strength, which she distances from the traditional, complex and theorized concepts of beauty and ugliness, to approach other notions linked to the power of materials or expression, the concreteness of reality and the need to reinforce the bonds that help us survive the crises and suffering we often don’t want to see or feel. The pieces are intense, entailing a lot of introspection; they demand to go out into the word, make themselves visible and capture viewers’ minds, because beyond their visuals they have solid concepts that trigger inevitable reflections on individuals.
In her series of works, where corporeality seems to reign, there is not only a “tribute to losses”, but a wake-up-call about our humanity and how we deal with existence.
The body has never been a mere physical entity, it’s much more than that: it’s the undeniable connection between our emotions, spirit and matter. This bond is so indisputable that during the pandemic, with generalized confinement, we can link the physical pain we’ve experienced to a psychological origin. A large portion of the population has gained weight, lost hair, and fallen victim unthinkable diseases “just because”. Our physical body is a pulsating reflection of the self, that ethereal being we can’t place, yet can’t deny.
This unending link that shapes us as individuals, gives us our autonomy and even our personality, is precisely what Maria Ignacia explores through hair, cells, and ultimately memory. Everything that affects us, everything that we don't need and we purposefully or unconsciously decide to forget or to leave behind, is captured in Flor de Piel, All About Time and On Memory. These series demonstrate her work’s strength, which she distances from the traditional, complex and theorized concepts of beauty and ugliness, to approach other notions linked to the power of materials or expression, the concreteness of reality and the need to reinforce the bonds that help us survive the crises and suffering we often don’t want to see or feel. The pieces are intense, entailing a lot of introspection; they demand to go out into the word, make themselves visible and capture viewers’ minds, because beyond their visuals they have solid concepts that trigger inevitable reflections on individuals.
In her series of works, where corporeality seems to reign, there is not only a “tribute to losses”, but a wake-up-call about our humanity and how we deal with existence.