Artist Statement

I am a Chilean-American emerging artist working in weaving, natural dyes, soft sculpture, and video. My work emerges from my background as an ethnographer studying the memorialization of political violence during the Augusto Pinochet military dictatorship (1973-1990) in Chile. In Chile, political violence was driven by foreign interests in critical materials. However, in the wake of violence and the promise of a “return” to democracy, the roles of materials such as copper, wool, salt, and berries, in the formation and maintenance of these politics continues to be overlooked. My work is based on collaborating with these materials to investigate the role of non-humans, the environment, and affect in political violence and reconstruction. The weavings, salt crystallizations, quilts, and videos I make are not images, but rather, textures of life after violence. Working in the larger trans-Pacific diaspora in the United States, my pieces are reminders that the histories of violence, neoliberalism, and reconstruction are always ecological and are always material.

Artist Bio 

Diego Borgsdorf Fuenzalida is an emerging Chilean-American fiber artist and ethnographic researcher, working in Washington DC. His work combines experimental ethnography and South American weaving, natural dye, and soft sculpture traditions to highlight the afterlives of twentieth century political violence in Chile and the broader trans-pacific world. Borgsdorf will open his first solo show, “Woven Ground” at Glen Echo Arts Park (Rockville, MD) in February 2025. He has exhibited in curated group shows at Room 3557 (East Los Angeles), Mile 44 (Los Angeles), Launch LA, and the Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles. His artwork and research has been published by the Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos (SCL) and En Tránsito gallery (SCL). In 2024, Borgsdorf was an Iburra Arts and Research Resident at Blue Light Junction (Baltimore, MD) and an AllPaper Curatorial Seminar Fellow at the Benton Museum of Art (Claremont, CA), and has held curatorial roles at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions and multiple NPS institutions. Borgsdorf graduated with a BA in Anthropology from Pitzer College with studio training in ceramics, fiber arts, video art, and printmaking.