Hot waters
Aguas Calientes is a journey towards the exploration of matter, along the way I create an imaginary map, collecting fragments that speak of the nature of objects. I am building a silent museum, a fossil universe where it is difficult for me to clearly distinguish the signifier from the meaning of the form.
I also represent my journey, a path where I model my childhood memories of the intense sun in the mountains, the songs of the frogs and fragments of foliage from a trip in the back seat of the Citroën 3cv. Within this territory the border between the real and imaginary events are fading and all these memories are threaded with each other, forming an imagined territory where the absent is presence.
There are words that are significant in our life, I have one that represents my dear German grandmother: Heimat, some translate it as homeland, however it goes a little further and it is not only the place where we were born or the name of the country that brings a birth certificate. Heimat is home, it is what you feel is your own, it is everything that history itself represents. The German language allows you to combine words, putting together a semantic puzzle that expands the initial concept. The conjunction of Heimat and Licht The result is Heimatlicht, light of home, land or terroir, that type of light that only exists in the realm of memories and is not necessarily linked to a geographical space or a specific period of time.
Now I would add Absence to my dictionary. Word that produces many Questions that I still can't understand: Is an empty space empty, based on the absence or presence of light? The void of a nest is built from a thousand fragments of branches, the ants build a clay hearth where their presence is marked by the hollow of their tunnels. I repeat, replicate and model the stereotype of a house: Is it a home because of the silhouette of its shape or because of the interior space? The use of objects is given by the gap of an absence, this "void" or "nothing" is what defines and conditions the form. The absences in our life also define it and the translucent trace of something that is no longer there is perhaps the presence of a void, a void that we are filling with memories or presences that signify us, these are translated into morbid images full of "Heimatlicht" . (2016)
Ah… I am blissful in the enlightened lands of Jujuy, globetrotting exploring nuances, gaps and utopias. All because I had the luxury of a pause to enjoy the work of Florencia Califano.
The best thing is that this work entertains me between sunny paths that weave together childhood stories in the mountains and lovable languages.
And from so much wandering I come across a sky whose stars tell me something about uncertain paths as well as perfect in their casual disposition. It is then I look askance at Florencia, this sweet girl who intertwines infinities in a carefree way while kneading forms and cultures - how I like that ... - only carried by her heart and her art. Without erudite pretensions I am tempted to say that kneading, etymologically, also means "Store treasures." And since we go around with dictionaries, it is worth remembering that the Florence dictionary is driven by "Saudades" ... There, inside, I find precious words linked to the verb to do. Doing with your hands, of course. But I also see hidden a concept of doing that unites us, from a gesture of "give me your hand." And that is why I want to see Florencia's work from her movement of hands, making hands, who sculpt and film. Hands that invite to dialogue.
Florence, when you look back you will glimpse to "Many people", plurals, which follow the movement of your hands. But look at the sky ... do you see this Jujuy sky with uncertain stars? They are looking at your work too. The one that is humanly constituted.
Beijo, garota !! ( Geruza Queiroz Coutinho - 2016)