The collection of information… an archive focuses on the preservation of records, documents, and memories. What happens when an archive is lost and/or abandoned, only existing in a fleeting moment of time? My practice is about synthesizing the visceral experience of an intangible archive through labor and abstraction. Using materials such as clay, metal, and natural fiber and applying both fiber techniques and industrial processes to create bonds of fragility, balance, and resilience. Techniques of weaving, spinning, and netting require a culmination of time, labor, and skill in order to produce an extensive amount of material. Thus through reproducing the object in processes of castings and firings, it sentimentalizes the labor of production. The repetitive, ritualistic nature of labor-intensive processes become a moment of solace and self reflection. The relationship between the object and self are embedded within the methods of production that are reliant on duration, sequence, and memory. Through material manipulation and abstraction I create an ephemeral archive of sensibility and memory. An active reflection of a sense of loss and urgency to establish an archive.

About the artist:

Kiara-Maribel (b.1999) is a Salvadoran-American interdisciplinary artist who lives and works in Rockville, Maryland. She earned her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago focusing in Ceramics, Fibers and Sculpture. Her current practice is centered around archive and ephemera material traced back to her family’s lineage after immigrating to the United States due to El Salvador’s civil war in the 80’s. She is interested in labor-intensive processes such as weaving and casting to produce objects of contemplation. She has exhibited work online for the University of Maryland Latin American Studies Center’s Annual student conference in the year 2021. She will be attending a Digital Weaving Lab Residency October 2023 hosted by Praxis Fiber Workshop to expand her series of jacquard woven textiles.

Cenizas

2021

Cottolin weaving, Copper powder, Glass, Porcelain
60” x 36” (weaving)
22” x 36” (porcelain)
12” x 12” (glass)