Daniela Gomez Paz: Walking through eyelets of fear, Aberturas al caminar
For Daniela Gomez Paz, every strand of material contains within it an entire history-information that she has painstakingly chosen just for us. The viewer is invited to wander inside what she has created an entire world threaded together, just as we are. For this exhibition, Gomez Paz began her journey with an investigation of fear fear as an abstract concept, manifesting itself into things like loss, uncertainty, grief, and a lack of clarity. Through an investigation of the ways in which these things can affect the human body and our psyche, the work transformed itself into a mysterious emptiness where the viewer is invited to self-reflect and see themselves within the work. There is also the creation of a liminal space, where we are asked to embrace the discomfort of moving from one place to another, from simply being to boldly existing.
The transformation begins with the eyelet, prominently featured in the show's title. It is defined as a small round hole in leather or cloth for threading a lace, string, or rope through. Despite its size, it becomes the portal through which one can begin their desired creation. The portal through which Gomez Paz begins her own work the very first step in a process that can seem endless when first begun. Gomez Paz's use of materials references the ways in which we build our own worlds, our own ecosystems, and how they are oftentimes a wordless and nonverbal plane. One of the goals within this series of works is to allow for Gomez Paz to genuinely share her process. This series has given the artist the liberty to use her voice and viewpoint as a way to connect with those who experience it. Although this can be true of art itself, there is a certain vulnerability that Gomez Paz is emphasizing here鈥攖he investigation of the uncertain was a long and unguarded process. There is an exposure that is emphasized in the creation of these works that gives the viewer the sense that it could wither away, just as our fleeting moments of fear do.
The materiality is a focal point for Gomez Paz, as it should also be for the viewer. The threads of fabric come together in an effort to subvert their original purpose, which is to create something that covers and protects the human body. Usually, these threads will be woven into something thin, malleable, and fluid. There is, quite literally, a seamless quality that can be achieved. In the case of Gomez Paz's work, she brings the threads closely together, creating something dense and impenetrable. They are almost reminiscent of something planetary-belonging in outer space, a world undiscovered. The initial investigations into mystery and its representation of emptiness also connects to the manner in which these peculiar objects seem to float on their own, within a vastness that cannot be fully understood, just as we cannot fully comprehend how our planet and our known world is suspended within a web of time and space. Some of these works are experimental abstractions, but one cannot help but to try and connect them to something that is known and recognizable. When the viewer rejects this impulse-when we allow for the object to stand on its own and function as a mirror to ourselves, as a confrontation with the vastness of what we can feel that is when we are able to fully connect with Gomez Paz's intentions for us. We just have to let go.
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For Daniela Gomez Paz, every strand of material contains within it an entire history-information that she has painstakingly chosen just for us. The viewer is invited to wander inside what she has created an entire world threaded together, just as we are. For this exhibition, Gomez Paz began her journey with an investigation of fear fear as an abstract concept, manifesting itself into things like loss, uncertainty, grief, and a lack of clarity. Through an investigation of the ways in which these things can affect the human body and our psyche, the work transformed itself into a mysterious emptiness where the viewer is invited to self-reflect and see themselves within the work. There is also the creation of a liminal space, where we are asked to embrace the discomfort of moving from one place to another, from simply being to boldly existing.
The transformation begins with the eyelet, prominently featured in the show's title. It is defined as a small round hole in leather or cloth for threading a lace, string, or rope through. Despite its size, it becomes the portal through which one can begin their desired creation. The portal through which Gomez Paz begins her own work the very first step in a process that can seem endless when first begun. Gomez Paz's use of materials references the ways in which we build our own worlds, our own ecosystems, and how they are oftentimes a wordless and nonverbal plane. One of the goals within this series of works is to allow for Gomez Paz to genuinely share her process. This series has given the artist the liberty to use her voice and viewpoint as a way to connect with those who experience it. Although this can be true of art itself, there is a certain vulnerability that Gomez Paz is emphasizing here鈥攖he investigation of the uncertain was a long and unguarded process. There is an exposure that is emphasized in the creation of these works that gives the viewer the sense that it could wither away, just as our fleeting moments of fear do.
The materiality is a focal point for Gomez Paz, as it should also be for the viewer. The threads of fabric come together in an effort to subvert their original purpose, which is to create something that covers and protects the human body. Usually, these threads will be woven into something thin, malleable, and fluid. There is, quite literally, a seamless quality that can be achieved. In the case of Gomez Paz's work, she brings the threads closely together, creating something dense and impenetrable. They are almost reminiscent of something planetary-belonging in outer space, a world undiscovered. The initial investigations into mystery and its representation of emptiness also connects to the manner in which these peculiar objects seem to float on their own, within a vastness that cannot be fully understood, just as we cannot fully comprehend how our planet and our known world is suspended within a web of time and space. Some of these works are experimental abstractions, but one cannot help but to try and connect them to something that is known and recognizable. When the viewer rejects this impulse-when we allow for the object to stand on its own and function as a mirror to ourselves, as a confrontation with the vastness of what we can feel that is when we are able to fully connect with Gomez Paz's intentions for us. We just have to let go.
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