Sujeta fuerte el mimbre explores the fragility of material and memory. Crafted from hand-braided buff wicker and hand-tooled leather, the piece honors the endangered tradition of wicker weaving from the Cuenca region, Spain. The title, «Hold the Wicker Tight,» speaks to the urgency of preserving heritage while confronting its vulnerability in the face of modernity.

The work may exist in sculptural form in a gallery. But in performance, the artist wears the woven mask, its frayed edges unfurling to reveal a blooming, concealed form. This act of covering and revealing suggests what we protect, what we risk losing, and what may emerge from that loss.

The performance is layered with a recitation of La Copa de un Pino («The Crown of a Pine Tree»), a poem written by the artist’s late mother in 1976, during Spain’s delicate transition to democracy. This recitation also forges an intimate connection with Jewelry for healing son. As the artist recites her mother’s words while wearing the mask, the performance becomes a bridge between past and present, reckoning with both personal and collective histories of transformation.

Ultimately, the woven wicker mask, with its open structure, serves as both shield and amplifier. Its loose ends suggest that fragmentation, often seen as destruction, can be generative. Sujeta fuerte el mimbre reflects the fragility of tradition in a rapidly changing world while embracing the regenerative potential of rupture—the ways culture, memory, and identity can evolve.

See performance documentation at CEAM [here]