Alexandra Agudelo

Alexandra Agudelo’s silver sculptures are inspired by the artisan traditions and tropical nature of Colombia’s Pacific and Caribbean regions. Her pieces are characterized by the dichotomy between the rigidity and the malleability of the material in which she works. By exploring the powerful quality and the history of silver, Agudelo seeks to combat the prestige of the material by transforming it into an everyday object for the home.

Agudelo’s sculptures transcend the stereotypical silversmith work of Latin America, which is historically linked to Spanish colonial finishes and Neo-Baroque influences present in the Republican period. Agudelo creates an ideal harmony through the interplay of these perfectly handcrafted silver objects that are inspired by the imperfections of Colombian nature.

By looking at how silver has operated within our culture, Agudelo often uses the material to investigate liturgical objects of worship. Agudelo states, “I look at our culture, our heritage, and our nature in a particular way. I observe the forms and the symbolic, iconographic, and visual universe of our ancestors, who manipulated matter to give it a ritual, expressive, emotional, and conceptual language, sacrificing its functionality in pre-Columbian times.” This careful attention to the visual language of her progenitors gives her work a distinct voice that holds the history of heritage while exploring her own voice in modernity.  By giving her ancestors a voice in the creative process, the silver objects straddle the line between traditional and abstraction.