Alberto Checa: ConchaFlush
Emerson Dorsch is pleased to announce ConchaFlush, an exhibition of new works by Alberto Checa. A multidisciplinary artist who uses materials typically associated with construction sites, Checa creates otherworldly structures that explore themes of labor among the Latino working class.
On view is a series of modular pieces that are part of the artist鈥檚 ongoing investigation into mold-making. Many of the works can be manipulated to fit together in different ways and generate new forms, some even include hinges or metal runners found in cabinetry. Checa starts with a sketch, often of a geometric shape on grid paper, and then constructs a wooden mold of that shape, pours urethane into it, and lastly, pours plaster into the negative imprint. This lengthy and repetitive process is what stimulates the ideas behind the work to begin with鈥攊n other words, there is an emphasis on process over product.
The plaster modular systems that result serve as frames which encase original sketches on paper, graphite and silicone drawings, and in more recent works, inkjet prints that are absorbed by the plaster itself. This method again prioritizes process since it allows for the material to take over; there is a sense of ceasing control of what the final outcome will be. That being said, it鈥檚 obvious that after much trial and error Checa has found a way to render his ideas with clarity, as we can easily decipher the images inside鈥攄ocumentation of his past performances, pictures of previous systems he鈥檚 created, and even a still from a video of Celia Cruz singing 鈥淕uantanamera鈥� during a concert in Africa in 1974.
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Emerson Dorsch is pleased to announce ConchaFlush, an exhibition of new works by Alberto Checa. A multidisciplinary artist who uses materials typically associated with construction sites, Checa creates otherworldly structures that explore themes of labor among the Latino working class.
On view is a series of modular pieces that are part of the artist鈥檚 ongoing investigation into mold-making. Many of the works can be manipulated to fit together in different ways and generate new forms, some even include hinges or metal runners found in cabinetry. Checa starts with a sketch, often of a geometric shape on grid paper, and then constructs a wooden mold of that shape, pours urethane into it, and lastly, pours plaster into the negative imprint. This lengthy and repetitive process is what stimulates the ideas behind the work to begin with鈥攊n other words, there is an emphasis on process over product.
The plaster modular systems that result serve as frames which encase original sketches on paper, graphite and silicone drawings, and in more recent works, inkjet prints that are absorbed by the plaster itself. This method again prioritizes process since it allows for the material to take over; there is a sense of ceasing control of what the final outcome will be. That being said, it鈥檚 obvious that after much trial and error Checa has found a way to render his ideas with clarity, as we can easily decipher the images inside鈥攄ocumentation of his past performances, pictures of previous systems he鈥檚 created, and even a still from a video of Celia Cruz singing 鈥淕uantanamera鈥� during a concert in Africa in 1974.
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