>> I work with the context, but the form of my work will always have
the characteristic, reflecting my obsession with cleanliness.
I suppose this is because I am as obsessed in my daily life,
the way I keep my house, my relationship and such.
But since I define my works depending on where I have to work,
it specifically has to do with the space.
For instance, half of my work is done in Guatemala, and I do it with my own means.
When I work in Guatemala, I generally use the public space.
When I work overseas, however, when I work with invitation,
I focus more on that other place.
I focus more on that other place.
What interests me is to find a niche, a bridge about which I can talk.
When I started my work during the first few years,
I travelled around the world to talk about issues in Guatemala.
When I travelled to Italy to be in the Venice Biennale,
I started to notice that I was no longer interested in the vision of the public
towards me as an "other." In the vision of the public towards me as an other.
I started noticing that when I talk about misery in Guatemala,
the others don't feel empathy, because they simply see it from a distance.
Well, those are the miseries happening in a third-world country, but
they don't have any kind of reflection nor feel any empathy.
And there was always this division, this vision from above, from power.
Then, there was this moment of my life, 2005, 2004, when I said stop!
If I am going to be constantly traveling what I have to do is different, and
besides, it was through these trips that I began to really open my mind,
and understand that my country is in trouble, full of miseries and filth.
But when traveling you realize that not only is my country full of conflicts,
but that conflicts are pervasive in the thid and first worlds.
Then, I was getting rid of the prejudices about what was happening in my country.
I started to conceive this stratgy that if I get invited to Chile,
I am going to try to find a point from where I can talk,
talking about something that I don't understand.
For instance, this last work, Desierto,
that I did in the Gabriela Mistral Gallery.
But I always find a niche, like a common point, because I don't like going to
places with this attitude of critique about a topic that I don't manage.
Instead, I am interested in demonstrating thorugh a visual experience that
both the problems over there and over here are similar, and
that there is always a connecting thread.
Like when, for instance, I did Looting, when I put the fillings inside my mouth.
I did this process during one year, and when I traveled to Germany, the dentist
removed all these gold fillings from my mouth in front of the public.
I used this image, which I knew was easily recognized by them,
because it is the image of the Germans extracting the gold from the Jews.
But I am talking about a contemporary issue I am talking about the looting of my
land by these great powers and my mouth was the perfect metaphor for this.
Or when I go to Chile and I start doing my research.
In Guatemala we have all these environmental problems as well,
due to industries such as the African Palm, exported to Europe as fuel,
while causing incredible damage to the environment, to the ecosystem.
Then, I started working on these environmental themes.
Which are becoming of big interest to me, all this organic part,
I got to the point where I am interested in understanding how the lands were
divided during the war in Guatemala.
And how these lands were later used for hydro electric plans, mining districts,
or mono crops, and to understand that the same is happening in Chile.
We know that the United States intervened in Guatemala in 1954,
it replicated all these procedures in South America with Plan Condor.
And then to understand that all these conflicts started in the 50's and
60's in Guatemala.
Lands were grabbed, and indigenous people killed.
In Pinochet's government, the same happened in the 70s.
They take away lands from the Mapuches, and then oligarchic families grab them.
Many of these lands are later turned into monocultures of pine and eucalyptus.
When I do this piece in Chile, I completely transform the gallery into
a desert, which instead of being made out of sand is made our of sawdust.
I am making a timely critique of what is happening in Chile, because these
monocultures are going to generate a tremendous desertification in the country.
I am taking from our own experience because
our lands were also taken by force and turned into moncultures.
So I am interested in talking about my tragedy but
through an example that you will also understand.