Natalia Espinosa

Fables from Ordinary Life/ Fabulas de la vida ordinaria

2010-11-14T08:17:00.000-08:00

If you want to see the pieces as they were shown in the gallery, plus some dramatic music, check out this video

Festivity

2010-07-25T11:08:00.000-07:00

This piece was made with three hundred handcrafted wedding sweets. Traditionally these sweets are elaborated by the women of the bride´s family, and showed at a large table during the wedding reception.

"Your penis in my Mouth"

FABLES FROM ORDINARY LIFE

2009-11-10T11:01:00.001-08:00

This series of pieces was inspired by our human need to find a reason for existing, in order to overcome with some dignity the ordinary realities of daily life. Society offers some concrete options to fulfill this need: Fall in love, mutually, with your ideal partner; marry and love someone for ever; create a family and be its pillar; practice infinite goodness, always turning the other cheek; feel part of ancient traditions, among other purely material options, and perhaps others which I might not yet be able to grasp. In this work in progress, I have been contemplating some of these possibilities.

Nacer, crecer, reproducirse o morir
Materials: terracota and terra sigilata
Size: 54x44x34 cm.
2008

Couple
Materials: terracota
Size: 60x50x28 cm.
2009

Wedding Dress
Materials: terracota, slip and glaze
Size: 147x132x104
2007

2009-11-09T15:24:00.001-08:00

Dessert
Materials: terracota, gold.
Size: 200x56x34
2008

LAST WORD

2009-11-09T14:27:00.001-08:00

This work was made for an event called Public’s Award, (Premio del Publico, Al Zur-ich 2007). Every participant presented a work of art in an improvised gallery in the middle of a working class neighborhood. At the end of the exhibit,the public voted for its favorite piece..
I designed my work specifically focusing on the importance of the event’s attendants. I chose a phrase which is very commonly used in Ecuador’s political and social context: They are such thieves. However, I converted this phrase to a positive statement: We Ecuadorians are not thieves.
I wrote this phrase using chocolate truffles placed upon a perfectly white table cloth. The table was set up inside a tiny white tent. The chocolates were not fixed to the table cloth and the public was free to come and go as they pleased, without uncomfortable witnesses.
At the end of the day, not a single chocolate remained.
My work won second place among the audience!
Quito, Al Zur-ich 2007

THE BRIDE

2009-11-09T12:47:00.000-08:00

A bride, with her impeccable white dress, starts to draw with black ink on the floor. She is drawing pairs of objects: wineglasses, beds, chairs, toilettes, televisions, diapers, stationary bicycles, pots, piggy banks and so on and so forth. This ritual takes place during sunrise and sunset, for approximately an hour at a time. The woman draws quietly and concentrated, as if she were alone under a glass bell.
People approach her respectfully and quietly. I love the reverence and warmth this character emanates: as if she were a perfect white flower, free of any sin or malicious thought.

Guayaquil 2007

POETIC GARBAGE

2009-11-09T11:34:00.000-08:00

When I first arrived to a "First World" country the garbage was the thing that most amazed me. There were so many new things being thrown away, I had to use extreme self-control not to rescue all of it.
After a number of years living abroad, I decided to use this impulse and make a small homage to that garbage. I called upon two colleagues, Aura Kajas and Tytti Korin, who shared my fascination with this waste, and we decided to work together in Amsterdam for a month. We had all lived there as students and knew the different neighborhoods and their potential, garbage-wise. The first week we worked defining the concept and collecting trashed items. The second week, we chose twelve objects from our pile and dedicated ourselves to transform them. What we actually did was simply wrap each of the items, according to their own story, using paper, string, or sponge. The last two weeks the objects were hung and the gallery was then opened to the public.

PRESENTS

2007-04-04T08:08:00.000-07:00

Pussy on the roof
This wedding present is ideal for couples who are ready to build their own "love nest". Being an old tradition to place ceramic animals on top of the tiled roof, this cat offers its old virtues to the newly wedd: curiosity and discretion
Size: 42 x 32 x 23cm
Series: Wedding presents
Year: 2006

Perro

2007-03-21T10:41:00.002-07:00

Another roof tile for the "forever together" couple. Decorated with glaze, black shoe polish and gold, will never tire to run around, panting for true happiness.
Size: 50 x 40 x 25cm
Materials: terracotta, glace, shoe polish and gold
Series: Wedding presents
Year: 2005

Rice Container

2007-03-21T10:41:00.001-07:00

Size: 42 x 44 x 25cm
Materials: terracotta, slip, glace
Series: Wedding presents
Year: 2005

Horse Ornament

2007-03-21T10:39:00.000-07:00

We suggest it to be used on top of the wedding cake…
Size: 48 x 38 x 20cm
Materials: terracotta, slip and glace
Series: Wedding presents
Year: 2005

Sugar Pot

2007-03-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

Size: 56 x 39 x 25cm
Materials: terracotta and glace
Series: Wedding presents
Year: 2005

The Bread Fruit Sink

2007-03-21T10:33:00.000-07:00

To be used squatting. It has a strongly textured convexity, in case you feel like scratching any rough aspects of the morning.
Materials: Glazed terracotta.
Size: 64cm x 45cm x 36cm
Series: Love presents
Year: 2003

The Eight Soap Sink

2007-03-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

Ideal for feeling plentiful, pampered, carried away, and why not, a bit weary.
Materials: Glazed stoneware, eight coconut soaps.
Size: 64cm x 45cm x 36cm
Series: Love presents
Year: 2003

The One Soap Sink

2007-03-21T10:29:00.000-07:00

It offers two drains, a bone white interior and a lonely soap.
Materials: Glazed terracotta, green soap.
Size: 64cm x 45cm x 36cm
Series: Love presents
Year: 2003

The Blooming Sink

2007-03-21T10:20:00.000-07:00

Instead of letting water fall gently in to it, this sink throws the water at you (through the white flower), waking you up without hesitation.
Materials: Stoneware, terracotta slip, glace.
Size: 64cm x 45cm x 36cm
Series: Love presents
Year: 2003

The Black Sink

2007-03-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

It offers space for five soaps and grip for four hands.
Materials: Glazed stoneware
Size: 64cm x 45cm x 36cm
Series: Presents for lovers
Year: 2003

Bathtub

2007-03-12T10:54:00.000-07:00

Bathtub with sacred cow. For those accompanied lonely moments.
Materials: glazed earthenware, gold.
Size: 38cm x 20cm x 23cm
Series: Love presents
Year: 2002

The Bed

2007-03-12T10:53:00.000-07:00

This piece is made out of fifteen small stoves, each of them hosting a tea candle inside. When the candles are lit the surface becomes pleasantly warm and inviting, in spite of its hardness. It is ideal for dreaming away in darkness, enjoying its warm and blaze. Each piece has illustrations inside, which can only be seen by the person who takes care of assembling the bed.
Materials: Glazed earthenware, tea candles, fire.
Size: 190cm x 130cm x 35cm
Series: Love presents
Year: 2004

Horse Bidet

2007-03-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

The horse bidet is an indispensable item in your bathroom, bedroom or living room. It stands riders up to a hundred kilos. It offers an elegant way to gallop out of any situation, feeling like a beautiful Amazon.

Materials: Glazed stoneware.
Size: 90cm x 70cm x 45cm
Series: Love presents
Year: 2002