Holograma de un Recuerdo / Hologram of a Memory
Solo Exhibition, De Pree Gallery
Curator: Sofia Sanchez Borboa
Hope College, Holland, Michigan
October 13 - November 9, 2023
Documentation: Eugene Tang
Hologram of a Memory presents Argentinian artist, María Burundarena’s work since moving to the US. During this period, the artist has been playing with finding pleasure and uncovering desire through the sense of discovery. Using photography, print media, and collage, she cuts out, reassembles, and condenses pieces of reality to play with multiple dimensions and velocities. Thus, the viewer becomes so entranced by the images formed with the interference of light that they inevitably escape to the new reality where holographic memory takes them. This solo show is a continuation of the artist’s exploration of the boundaries of image and light.
For this exhibition, she plays with the gallery space to make it the show's protagonist. The viewer starts by walking down the staircase wrapped in emergency blankets. By packaging the architectural element, she emphasizes the transitional quality of the staircase and invites people to slow down to notice how the light and space change due to the reflective quality of the foil.
As they go down, they see a monumental image fragmented into columns. By thinking of the retina as a surface and the surface as a retina that records images of imprinted memories blown up, she toys with the spatial sensation of the depth, speeding up the velocity of its perception. The artist also utilizes filters to interrogate the viewer’s relationship to the image and how they experience and understand the pieces. This can be further seen in the wrapped columns and projections in the space.
The little gallery zooms into a grid of smaller works. Using her personal photographic archive to surround the visitor with these works, Burundarena romanticizes a memory of what is lost, abandoned, and broken. Here the viewer is forced to slow down once again to endeavor to understand what they are seeing in each of the images, creating a sense of intimacy.
Hologram of a Memory is a choice to play with the exhibition space. The artist engages with the tension of multiple velocities and dimensions to create a sense of awe that goes beyond beauty and admiration. The viewer also has the option to immerse themselves in the images to understand that what is being observed is not a real image but a trace of reality, allowing them to take flight to a new reality.
