In conjunction with the Currents New Media Festival, La Cocina, an installation by Seattle-based artist, Priscilla Dobler, opens in form & concept’s upstairs gallery on Friday, June 10 from 5-7 pm. Priscilla Dobler is a Seattle-based artist born in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. Interested in the traditional methods of weaving and embroidery, she constructs poignant installations and sculptures that comment on the construction of identity. Using her environmental surroundings such as her home, childhood memories and collaborations with family members, she reconstructs objects that are symbolic representations of the different cultures she identifies with. Functional objects are stripped down to their basic fundamentals to reinterpret their meaning through new methods of construction. Dobler addresses themes such as tensions of identity, borders, social inequality and juxtapositions within architectural spaces.
Dobler states, “I have always been interested in the relationships and dialogues that occur within spaces especially those of a home. When you breakdown the structure of a home the kitchen is the core center, filled with activity and the blending of cultural identities through food.” La Cocinais a structure that symbolizes the foundation of an American kitchen. The walls, cabinets and appliances have all been replaced with colorful cotton thread. “My Mayan and Scottish/ American-German grandparents were hammock weavers, seamstresses and builders. All four individuals came from different economic backgrounds, social classes and race, yet had common interests in weaving, building and cooking. A hammock is a well-crafted strong structure that supports and adapts to the body’s weight. The hammock is constantly flexible with horizontal and vertical lines stretching/expanding, yet always comes back to its original shape and form. The soft, malleable thread pulls tightly against the structure of the wall to create a rigid, yet permeable border. The thread adds color to the walls and cabinets activating the kitchen with color. The thread also represents the juxtapositions of identity.”
La Cocina is a room-sized woven installation with audio recordings of conversations that have occurred in the kitchen and sound recordings we associate within these spaces, allowing the viewer to interact within the space. Questions addressed within the recordings are, “what is the American Dream?,” “what is identity and how do you define identity?,” and “what is the infrastructure of America?