Tubers have the ability to grow when underground, growth does not stop if they keep under the ground. They are food reserves for the plant growing on the surface.
The word tuber comes from the Latin ¨tuberculum ¨ which means protuberance.
They are not appreciated esthetically because they remind us of our interior: stomach, liver, bolus, or bowel shapes in general.
As I weeded my parents’ vegetable garden at home, I dug up a huge plant that I deemed to be a weed: huge radishes came out, unusual shapes, visceral and impressive bowels of the earth.
Two thoughts caught my mind:
On the one hand the fear that I had. Colombia is a very violent country and cemeteries or mass graves are often found everywhere. The red color, shape and size of the radishes made me think of that.
On the other hand, I realized how much we are used to standardized forms of vegetables.
The Colombian state recommends seeds of Monsanto and prohibits the use of natural seeds, organic vegetable gardens are rare.
I molded these shapes and started playing with them, breaking them down and juxtaposing them, creating amalgams of protuberances.
Here various explorations that make fun of the culturally imposed aesthetic prejudices. Using materials considered «noble» on forms «uncomfortable» for popular aesthetics.
In these pieces, I revisit the art of a “world where the tuber is king”, the tuber becomes the protagonist. A world formatted differently.
