Series of sculptures that tries to resurrect objects that were believed to be dead: Made of wax, fragile and tiny.

The sculptures were made with clay, that naturally cracked itself. Once the sculptures were fired, I placed small wax objects made by my maternal grandfather, Alfonso Vargas Sánchez, back in the 60s, on the top of these sculptures. These objects come from the reproduction of jewelry from Tomb 7 of Monte Albán (Oaxaca, Mexico).











[Lawndale Art Center. Houston, Tx., 2019]

Tomb 7, discovered in 1931, was one of the most important archaeological finds of the 20th century. Since then, the pieces found there have functioned as an ideological reference for the State: testimony of a falsely common past.

So, how to display these objects without falling back into the State's narrative? How to resurrect them beyond their rhetoric, their exhibition/veneration protocols and their discursive violence?



[Photo: Cliff Man. Contemporary Art Museum, San Diego, 2017]

The pieces of black clay were burned by Omar Fabián in San Bartolo Coyotepec; and those made of red clay and glazed (green), by José Manuel Velasco in Santa María Atzompa. Oaxaca, Mexico.

These pieces were made during a period of changes in my immigration status. They would not exist without the support of my mother, Laura Vargas Fagoaga, Omar Pimienta, and Andrew Sturm.





               
        
Mark