Synopsis "Sandra Vasquez de la Horra: The Awake Volcanoes (in English)"
- Accompanies an exhibition of nearly 200 works spanning Sandra Vásquez de la Horra's career at the Denver Art Museum, 7 April-21 July 2024- Includes a new poem written by celebrated Chilean poet and artist Cecilia Vicuña, in both the original Spanish and English translation Sandra Vásquez de la Horra reimagines the world and deconstructs societal and cultural norms through her playful and surrealistic drawings and paper sculptures. Her work delves into shared and untold histories, trauma, desire, fantasies, and taboos. Born in Chile during the repressive Pinochet regime, she has lived and worked in Germany for decades, incorporating Latin American and European traditions into her unique artistic language. Her drawings - along with paintings, photographs, and films - explore mythologies, fantastical hybrid botanicals, diverse geographies, and text, with writing in Spanish, English, Italian, Latin, and German, that expands the possibilities of meaning for each image. She imbues the traditional technique of drawing with tactility by dipping finished drawings in beeswax, and she continues to challenge our preconceptions of what drawing can be by turning paper into three-dimensional sculptures. Sandra Vásquez de la Horra's work invites us in and exposes the mysteries and intimacies of our shared experiences.
