Gabriela Agüero
Vestigios

25.11.19 25.03.20

VESTIGIOS

I found matrices that I made some time ago, they were rusty and their images had been altered. After the discovery I became aware that despite the care, having wrapped them to preserve them, the action of time and nature cannot be stopped.

So I decided to incorporate the transformation process into my work, using rust to print. I repeated the action of wrapping the matrices with thin papers, making packaging that I tied with threads, also made of paper. I left them out in the open for a few days, a few months … I’m not sure. The fiber of the paper was torn and retracted on itself, as when the skin of a wound is opened, some of the material was embedded in the holes in the metal. I took those scraps and mounted them on other brackets. The wrappers were stained, preserving in their plot the memory of what they saved. I took photographs of them and took them to photoengraving enlarging the image, thus they acquired the appearance of sacred shrouds.

I rescue traces, I print footprints, I investigate printing possibilities with rust dust mixed with ink, I photograph rotten surfaces, I register imaginary, intimate landscapes, which I transfer to engraving, to continue transforming the image and the meanings.

I wrap and unwrap repeating the action, with a microscope I magnify the shapes, I get into the matter …
I discover and record how time continues to transform, dissolve, forget

BIO
Gabriela Agüero
1973 | Buenos Aires, Argentina.

STUDIES
2013 | B.A. in Visual Arts, Orientation in Engraving and Printed Art. IUNA, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1998 | Prof. in Engraving. National School Of Fine Arts P. Pueyrredón IUNA, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1995 | M.A. in Visual Arts. Esc Municipal de Bellas Artes Carlos Morel, Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Scholarships with A Scavinno and A Díaz Rinaldi.

EXHIBITIONS
2019 | H C D Morón, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2016 | Zero Space. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2010 and 2012 | Monocopias, Morón. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2008 | Metáforas, French Alliance, Flores. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2007 | SAAP, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

AWARDS
2019 | 2nd Prize Mini Print Cantabria, Spain.
2017 | Special mention, CPA. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2012 | 2nd Mention, ANBA, Bonifacio del Carril Award. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2008 | Mention Monocopy LIII Salon M Belgrano. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2006 | 1st Engraving Award, SAAP. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2005 | Unique Mention: Hall A V P Pueyrredón. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1st Mention Engraving: Munic San Fernando Room. Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Related Activities

Open Studio

Traces
Gabriela Aguero

19.02.20

In this Open Study of February 2020 the artist showed a series of works in process carried out during two micro-residencies in ´ace. In such a way the project that was finally called Vestiges is made up of several series:

SERIES

Traces:
The Rastros series is a series of eco-prints that were made by rescuing the rust of iron plates with etchings by the artist. She wrapped these plates in rice paper. The impressions, product of the rust due to the action of time and nature, become shrouds of these matrices. Some wrappers were torn, embedded in the metal wounds, torn and stained. The artist wanted to preserve them, mounting them on a support. This permanent action seeks to save but at the same time transform the testimony of the object, the passage of time and the remains of both processes.

Objects (Wraps) Stamp obtained from the impression of rust produced by the action of time and nature. These objects are the unfolded wrappings with the imprints and folds engraved on themselves, they will be later placed in containers.

Cocoons (Wrapped Matrices): Iron matrices wrapped in rice or kozo paper, tied with paper thread, printed with oxide. These objects will be placed in acrylic boxes.

IMPRESSIONS

Wakes: prints made from printing with inks made with rust and sprinkled with rust on fresh transparent ink. The images emerged from directly copying the wrappers to the ofset sheet metal. Format: 76cm x 28 cm Support: Guarro biblos paper

Landscapes: photoengravings made from scans of the oxidized matrices, producing bichromes printed with graphic inks.

Packaging: engravings made with printing of the matrices with oxide by the action of time and nature. Format 48 cm x 65 cm. Support: Magnani Magna paper

ABOUT DRESSES (by Gabriela Aguero)

What does wrap mean?
To wrap is to cover, clothe, pack, sheathe, pack, bandage, cover, protect.
By performing this action on what is in transformation, which leaves its trace, the wrapping becomes the representation of a non-tangible reality:
time
Her mark
metamorphosis
perishable
the memory
the enduring
the vestiges …