Study for Amulets (Lake michigan #1)
(2023)
An amulet is an object to which a supernatural virtue is attributed: attracting good luck or ensuring protection. In the bond of humans with the landscape and how we find identity in the place, I create these amulets as reflections or tangible manifestations of this relationship, which inhabits a spiritual sense of belonging and memory. An object that protects that deep sense of affection, that carries in it the infinite stories of the landscape.
This piece is the first of this body of work. I made it on the shore of Lake Michigan. The leaves, branches, stones, and sand belong to the different landscapes that touch the lake in Chicago. Besides being a way to recognize and connect with the landscape it became a contemplative and meditative exercise of reflection and grounding. The three lines of concrete represent the shores made by the city, for people's to access and contemplate the lake.