Carved Bodies
Margarita Checa exhibits “The Web of Life”
HUMAN FIGURES: The artist surrounded by her wooden creatures
Where: At Lucia de la Puente Art Gallery (Paseo Saenz Pena 206, Barranco) up to June 27th. Free entrance
To come closer to Margarita Checa’s work is like walking into a garden of sleeping statues that are about to come to life at the sound of the voice of their creator. Each one of the pieces that constitute this exhibition “The Web of Life” is a character that exhales emotions difficult to put into words. What Checa has achieved with her majestic carvings is to create a universe in which her ideas and imagination are captured with honest vitality.
This exhibition is named after the book by the physicist Fritjof Capra, who analyses from his field of study the relationships among living beings and its repercussions. For the artist the source of this web of life is an energy that connects every worldly being. “It’s just that what you do to the thread, you do to the whole web. And to understand this, a point of maturity is required”, she explains.
Her characters move within this concept – which frames the artistic work of this sculptress. Tall and thin youngsters, mystical women, curious children with rounded bellies. Beings carrying in their carved bodies the Peruvian culture. Checa states that Pre-Incan cultures have been her major influence. There is a bit of Mochica, Paracas, but also from Egypt and Africa, since at the end we are all pieces of the great puzzle of humanity.
This exhibition is alive, starting with the raw material chosen for her sculptures. “The wood is a material that mutates with the passage of seasons and it is very noble”, Checa comments. And we end up with the feeling that in this universe of men, women, and children made of wood, there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered. There are still lots of feelings to decode and enjoy in the middle of these giants of wood, that become more alive while being observed.
