A Metaphor Against Oblivion
A Metaphor Against Oblivion is Norma Vila’s latest conceptual body of work, inspired by two themes: landscape and absence. The exhibition consists of nine mid-size digital photographs and twelve sculptures made of Styrofoam. This collection of images and sculptures references and criticizes the notions of development by metaphorically representing the absent landscape that remains in the collective consciousness. Vila is tempted to convey the impossibility of the landscape that surrounds her by presenting a critical look at the transformation of the landscape -in the broadest sense of the word- while at the same time a contemplative view of the paradox of development in today's world.
When asked about her upcoming exhibition Vila Rivero comments: "For this project I am working with the representation of the metaphor 'the skin of memory'... Everything we have seen marks us, and many times when passing by some place, it is inevitable to remember that place as it was before ... And that absent landscape is impregnated in us, it is a mark and a metaphor against oblivion. In order to represent that mark or trace in the memory, in this series of photos I place a stencil on the back of a model and the sun imprints the image to their backs... Then I place the model - marked by the memory of what is no longer there - in the place that corresponds to the vanished landscape. All the images used as stencils are based on stories that I have compiled from friends, family members, or myself. The result is that the photo serves as testimony or record of the specific event ... The aim is to present a clear and manifest absence. Photography as a medium is vital as it makes an absence visible and serves as a certificate of presence. In A Metaphor Against Oblivion themes such as the impossibility of the natural landscape on an island, the excessive urban development, the abandonment of cultural heritage, and the negligence in the communities and public spaces are over layered to contrast the effects caused by failed leadership and bad management today."
Calls for attention on the ways we relate to the environment are a peremptory key in Norma Vila's most recent proposal. Issues that previously emerged in her work are openly formulated today in what will be a long-term research project about environmental sustainability in the face of economic growth. Reflection through the chosen images allows us to think about ideas: memory-event-revelation, games of presence and absence, traces of hidden realities, as activation of the memory, and of updating past marks, cognitively and emotionally.
Vila Rivero works with analogies and the double meanings of objects, words, and concepts. Media, disciplines, and materials are intertwined, thereby creating an intricate web of multi layered ideas. Vila’s starting points originate with personal experiences within her collective environment. She then directs her interests into an in-depth critical analysis of selected topics. With a deep dive into the origins and meaning of her subjects, she prepares the groundwork for making critical, contemporary and pertinent visual commentary.