Ana Lucia Garcia Hoefken





Transfiguraciones



2022

Ella, Museu del Disseny de Barcelona
De la Memoria a la Materia, Centro de Artesanías de Catalunya


Transfiguraciones explores the physical strength of low-temperature ceramics, a material that is often undervalued compared to other types of clay that withstand high temperatures. Additionally, it converges on the meaning of the role and value of crafts and their alienation within the boundaries of contemporary art. This project materializes in a serial process of vessels that progressively deform through a change in the composition of their material. Between the first and last vessel, the proportions of high and low-temperature clay change, and all are subjected to high firing temperatures, exceeding the melting point of low-temperature clay and causing a gradual transfiguration.

There is a collapse of the concept-thing dichotomy by stripping elements of their functionality, politicizing the impact of material on our environment and our imaginaries of human dominion. The form fades away, thus questioning what craftsmanship means by giving it different configurations than what we usually project, aiming to establish a more horizontal relationship between material and human.