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ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Prognosis in observation
The investigation that led to Prognosis in observation by Fernanda Matarrita arises from the observation of microscopic cancer effects in bodies. This project uses engraving to observe abnormal growth on the development of the disease cells, and offers the viewer an approach to the process, both scientific and poetic at the same time.
The title Prognosis in observation suggests a look on the evolutionary process of a disease, characterized by its uncontrolled growth. The displayed images explore the possibilities of representation of the moments of cell mutation, its speed, division and displacement. As if it were in search of a diagnosis, all together make evident the vulnerability of the body through elementary units of life such as cells and fluids.
The artist observes with fascination these visual changes resulting from the disease itself as a way to rebuild a medical knowledge that allows to take distance from an experience that is primarily emotional and painful. Also, the artist questions what kind of prediction or forecast this set of images might make.
In Matarrita’s words: “There is a profound interest in forms, figures and images that emerge from the histological studies and the capacity that can be achieved by a specialized observer to adapt the eye so that you can identify one condition or another in the cell tissues. This cold and scientific view seems like a way to objectify and numb oneself against the possible suffering, given the involvement of a deadly disease such as cancer. ”
The prints are constructed through the application of aquatint, etching and soft varnish on metal plates. The choice of copper responds to its high sensitivity and to the energetic way it registers the marks of its own material corrosion. The application of aggressive and oxidizing agents on the metal is also a metaphor of a body that is affected and that at some point it inevitably yields. The images are a combination of feelings of grief and mourning through an intimate, almost microscopic look of death. A death, that is no less real because it is being observed from a system of representation that is close a scientific and the medical one.
Prognosis in observation reminds us that we are always exposed. The project aims to convey the viewer to a shared sense of loss, trying to restore the consciousness of the imperceptible dimension of ourselves. This set of prints evoke the way our lives are made precisely on the basis and organization of those small cellular elements that have their own existence, their own rhythms, their own way of relating and living, for a limited time, in our fragile bodies.
Fernanda Matarrita is currently studying Art and Visual Communication with emphasis in printmaking at the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica.
INFORMATION
ARTISTS: Fernanda Matarrita
VENUES: Poligráfica
This post is also available in: Español (Spanish)