Opus Nigrum (2015)
Opus Nigrum emerged from a fascination with the transformative processes of matter, particularly clay. Inspired by alchemical cycles, the work explores the transition between the raw and the fired, the wet and the dry, maintaining clay paper sheets in a larval state for as long as possible—wrapped and shrouded—before firing them at high temperatures. This act seals the form, solidifying its layers like charcoal papyri, evoking the carbonized scrolls of Herculaneum.
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The piece was first exhibited in the international show Ceramix (Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, 2015; La Maison Rouge, Paris, 2016), a major survey of contemporary ceramics. There, it was presented as a work that pushes the limits of alchemical phases, playing with the boundaries between permanence and transformation, containment and release of matter. Alongside the ceramic pieces, two photographs were shown: one of a cloth fragment used during the wrapping process, and another of a tiny ash remnant from a newspaper that survived the firing.
In 2018, these concepts were expanded in El Gran Hogar, a site-specific project created for the exhibition 13 Jardines. It connected two material extremes: a small mud house built by children twenty years earlier on the same land, and a branch of the irrigation canal that feeds the gardens. Between them, an island held a miniature of an as-yet nonexistent place, while a network of floating plants and water led the visitor through a sensory journey. Like a landscape of memory, each element was arranged to trigger evocations, weaving a story of transformation and living matter across past and present. This project was created in collaboration with landscape designer Trinidad Vicuña and architect Francisco Lira.
