« Matter and Light Play », la nouvelle résidence du Guapamacátaro hacienda

Matter and Light Play

Curated by Alicia Marván

For three weeks, six creative professionals in art, design, architecture and cultural anthropology were in residency at the Guapamacátaro hacienda. The exhibition showcases their explorations, findings and creative endeavors.

Anaïs Roesch (France)

When I arrived to Mexico and then to Guapamacátaro, two specific elements drew my attention, cacti and the colorful embroideries. The first ones in the landscape and the food, and the second ones as a strong cultural practice. Since then, I have been experimenting different ways of linking these two elements as a metaphor for the possible relations between nature and culture.

Ani Hoover (USA)

My interests since coming to Guapamacátaro include embroidering, weaving and working with found objects. I find the landscape, animals and community very inspiring. I will spend the last week of my time at Guapamacátaro completing a kinetic sculpture made of mirrors, which will reflect and refract the sun rays.

Josh Hoeks (USA)

The experience occurs through a sort of affective osmosis, where the lifeworld of the Guapamacataro community (kids going to school, farmers working the fields, local residents engaged in the daily chores of animal care, cleaning, playing, cooking, etc.) is slowly internalized. A question begins to gather: How might I act in accord with the ecology of the site? Is it homemade butter from fresh cow’s milk, or (DIY) passive solar hot water heaters? Maybe…

Juan Luis Zegarra Queirolo (Peru)

I arrived with a premedited idea, but Guapamacátaro became an exploration of diferent spaces and times. While I develop an understanding of its language, I recolect  what people discard and I reformulate the objects in a more visible form, exposed to critique.

Lisa Pusch (Germany)

I am fascinated by nature and the way people relate to it in this rural environment; especially the wild, uncultivated parts. It made me think of the way humans have always dealt with nature by using abstraction and formulas to grasp and understand it. I wonder, if this attempt will lead us somewhere or if we should shift our approach. My project at Guapamacátaro is a series of geometrical objects reflecting the (wild) nature around them, representing this quest.

María Pietrogiovanna (Mexico)

The forms that light makes in the darkness, the assemblage of water and wind, and the peace that I experience in Guapamacátaro continuously open the doors to my inner world.

The Guapamacátaro Center for Art and Ecology is a site-based and community-oriented initiative where artists from different disciplines, scientists, educators and activists converge to foster culture, collaboration and sustainable development.

Hacienda de Guapamacátaro

Km 72.5 Carretera Maravatío-Tlalpujahua

Michoacán, México