Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio’s work examines the erasure of Latinx history – facilitated by the colonialism upon which our contemporary Western geopolitical societies are built and ignoring the importance of Latinx contributions to culture, technology, and the economy – and to work towards reclaiming Latinx identity in the US and elsewhere. Aparicio works through the lens of migration, and is specifically interested in identity-construction and place-making. The artist’s sculptures are made from a range of materials, for example rubber, sulphur, wood glue, found cloths, acrylic, latex paint and cotton, but trees and their bark form the most vital part of Aparicio’s assemblages. He asserts that ‘colonial injustices have not only been directed towards humans. Environmental justice and social justice are deeply intertwined, and allowing material to be a collaborator in the works acknowledges it as a part of its own narrative.’ Aparicio creates giant draperies, like animal hides made from trees or palimpsests that communicate ancient histories of colonialism and displacement, and contemporary narratives of ecological crisis and social injustice.
Written by Goldsmiths CCA ...
