Mallki 2004. Microtextiles, light box, 35mm
slide projectors, dissolve unit. Bronx Museum of the Arts, AIM-24 exhibit.
Textile art from Peru depicts all sorts of realistic beings and an array of geometric abstractions.
These textiles usually exhibit a repetitive pattern arranged within a checkboard layout. There are slight
variations in the repetition, small shifts in the textile grid create different versions of the pattern.
The pattern replication goes through rotation, negativization, color shift and multiple partitions from
one pattern to the next. The diversification process of the pattern suggests new meanings to it, becoming itself a sort of
language
The language of the changing pattern describes the forces that transform a shape into a new
one.
Mallki is a kechua word that has two meanings: sprout and mummy. In ancient Peru mummies were placed
in a fetal position and kept in womb-shaped chambers.
