Carolina Marín Hernández
Moore College of Art and Design
Le dio la chiripiorca
27" x 20" 30"
Ceramic with glaze
2022
Cobija de culitos
24" x 17" x 34"
Ceramic with glaze
2022
Artist Biography
Carolina Marín Hernández was born in Cali, Colombia and raised in Queens, New York. Carolina is currently based in Philadelphia where she is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Moore College of Art and Design with a concentration in 3D Media and an interest in Fibers. Her artwork explores and rejects the monolithic identification of Latinidad, instead celebrating the identity’s multicultural roots through performance-based work, weaving, and sculpting. She uses decorative ceramics, vibrant colors, and woven corn husks to construct large-scale sculptures imbued with animism and humor. As a first-generation, formerly undocumented person, Carolina seeks to rethink identities imposed onto her through experimentations with language, form, and material.
Artist Statement
The works presented here are part of a series entitled "Checheres". "Checheres" is an exploration of self-identity and liberation within the social, cultural, and racial parameters which exist within Latinidad. The majority of representational motifs embedded in the ceramic pieces are based on the body of oral literature that highlights Indigenous formal oratory as well as rhythm of hispanohablante music. In my ceramics work, I recontextualize the histories imposed on Valdivian figures and funerary statuettes endemic to western South America to create guardians imbued with animism and joy. A vibrant color palette reflects Colombian culture and disrupts the association of Indigenous, Black, and Brown culture with muted earth tones. I argue that Latinidad, rather than being a geopolitical designator and identifier, is a fabricated monolithic identity rooted in Eurocentrism which promotes the erasure of multi-ethnic diasporas and non-white identities. By adopting a critical and hemispheric perspective, this work aims to deconstruct and decenter the construct of Latinidad by exploring how its hegemonic applications erase Black, Brown, and Indigenous representations. The purpose of this work is to highlight the intersections of trauma, joy, and liberation I experience as a Brown person and allow for the creation of an impossible space for others who may feel the same. These sculptures are a recognition, exploration, and acceptance of a constant state of racial and cultural indeterminacy.