Mata Palo
Wood debris and Japanese Burn (Shou Sugi Ban)
The Suárez Twins have dedicated their career to addressing ecological issues through their art as nature is one of their primary inspirations. Hurricane María, 2017, affected their job and nourished Mata Palo conceptually. The twins incorporated the Cupey tree because of its aggressive growth, which can affect the proliferation of other trees and thus echo the hurricane’s devastation. Mata Palo alludes to nature’s regenerative capacity after a destructive event, literally revitalizing a space from the remains of the fallen.
“We are honored to produce a work commemorating nature’s recovery after Hurricane María’s passage. Although the phenomenon’s onslaught seriously devastated Dorado Beach’s vegetation, we are now able to turn the overabundance of native wood resources to advantage so as to reconstruct the landscape. The privilege of executing this commemorative work after the disaster, in and of itself, represents an opportunity to which we would like to correspond with the best of our creative performance. arte FITS FOUNDATION honours us greatly by collaborating, supervising and commissioning a project of equilibrated intervention in nature.”
Vientre Compartido
“Just days after Hurricane Maria struck the island, razing the vegetation that covered the mountains, one began to see the first tender sprouts of leaves and new shoots peeking up out of the naked ground, and weeks later the earth’s skin was clothed once more with green. Nature always triumphs, the artists remind us, even over its own death”.
Excerpt from Laura Bravo López’s curatorial text for Mata Palo
