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A Harsh, Yet Gentle Mother “Natura”
"Flor," one of Puerta's vintage suitcase fountain pieces.
Written by Elyse Beaudoin
Lina Puerta’s ‘Natura’ at the Sage College of Albany’s Opalka Gallery.
On August 31, the Opalka Gallery at the Sage College of Albany came alive with the colors and emotions of Lina Puerta’s ‘Natura’ exhibit. This sense-stimulating display will be at Opalka until October 23.
Puerta, a Colombian-American sculptor, has taken inspirations from Colombian cultures and traditions, as well as her own examinations of society, nature, and the female body. she creates vivid works that bind the themes of humanity and nature with an array of mixed media including colorful fabric, clay, micro-filament, lighting, and water..
“I create objects that merge both botanical and anatomical forms to evoke surreal and magical worlds,” said Puerta in a general statement about her art.
The centerpiece of her thirty-nine displays is titled Siete Lunas (Seven Moons) and consists of seven tentacle-like tubes that support dangling ceramic hands holding eggs at the ends. From the ceramic figures water drips down into a small plastic pool. The vibrantly colored fabrics that line the hanging tubes are decorated with feathers and sequins that give the piece a festive feel. The sound of the dripping water fills the room to heighten the viewer’s senses.
“I was really excited because everything was very colorful. It was like a celebration. I was also a little shocked and curious,” said Ashley Williams, an Opalka Gallery employee, when she was asked about her initial reactions to assembling Puerta’s work.
Most of the pieces project images or symbols of femininity, sociality and religion. In addition to Puerta’s abrupt perspectives, she mixes in concepts dealing with humanity and nature being one. The heavily sexual and feminist overtones of her work meld with a calm, maternal feeling to create a unique sensation.
“She occasionally mixes biology, ecology, and native culture with Catholicism in comments on how church beliefs conflict with natural selection,” wrote Tim Kane in an article about Natura for the Times Union.
Virgen, a piece that emphasizes Puerta’s conflict between the church and nature, can also be viewed at Opalka. A blue cloak, that is representative of the Virgin Mary, is draped over a surreal image of the female genitalia. This piece provides a raw and natural meaning of the Immaculate Conception.
One piece that captures the more calming, maternal side of Puerta’s work is titled Arbol (Tree). It is a fifteen foot hanging tower made of fabrics, metal, lights, sandbags, micro-filaments, and a wooden stool. From the outside, Arbol looks like a satin tree trunk, but the viewer can also sit inside the tower on the stool. When looking up inside the tower or trunk, the viewer is supposed to feel as if he or she is inside the womb.
“When you go inside Arbol you feel comforted, calm, and relaxed. The lights are so soothing,” said Ashley Williams, who pin-pointed this piece as one of her favorite works.
Lina Puerta has had her art displayed in galleries throughout San Francisco, Cuba, Tucson, and New York City. At one of her New York City showings, her ceramic suitcase fountains such as Corazon (Heart) and Flor (Flower) caught the eye of the Opalka Gallery director. These vintage suitcases contain ceramic fountains figures that are representative of the natural world and the female body. Water is a central theme in many of the Natura pieces. It symbolizes the flow between nature and humanity. Plants, mosses, pods, trees, and micro-filaments also line the sides of the suitcases.
These sensual displays, along with many others can be found at the Opalka Gallery on Monday through Friday from 10AM to 8PM and on Sunday from 12PM to 4PM. For further information, contact Jim Richard Wilson, director of the Opalka Gallery at (518) 292-7742.
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