The Art of Holding Hands
By Connor Downs
Since birth, holding hands gives us a feeling of connectedness, comfort, and when broken apart, occasionally abandonment. These are many of the same emotions elicited by Las Hermanas Iglesias in their Contemporary Project now on display at the Blanton Museum of Art.
The artist duo is made of sisters Lisa and Janelle Iglesias, who have worked collectively since 2005. While living on opposite coasts, they draw on their shared experiences of motherhood, family, and cultural identities. The Contemporary Project is an extension of these concepts, made to represent their journeys of each becoming first-time mothers during the global pandemic, a time when uncertainty was the only normal.
Their Contemporary Project features four artworks in various forms of media. The largest and most attention-grabbing is a sculpture outlined with copper pipes titled plumb and fathom.
Plaster cast hands of the artists as well as their mother, Bodhild, and Lisa’s son, Bowery, adorn the sculpture. Often the hands form some sort of connection with either another hand or an object such as plants or shells.
Sea Change, a separate piece of naturally dyed fabric is draped inside. The loose threads of the unwoven half wrap around the metal frame. Just like the yarn from which it is made, this large textile is a metaphor for the connections between families and communities.
The inspiration of how complex families can be — both found and biological ones — dangles in front of the viewer with a slightly obvious apparentness. A literal demonstration of these relationships accounts for a visually interesting take on an age-old concept that leaves the viewer coming back for more, and each time finding something new to ponder.
Nine panels show the sisters’ surrealist narratives in the series seasaw/seesaw. The collages are more or less a two-dimensional version of their sculpture,
The sisters are selective in what they include in the pieces, often referencing historical connotations. As children of Scandinavian and Dominican immigrants, photos of talismans of fertility from those cultures are prominent. These stone figurines seem somewhat out of place, however, when surrounded by the maternal and humanistic designs of the other prints.
Shells are another motif throughout the Contemporary Project, rounding out themes of motherhood and femininity using the same object that Botticelli chose to portray Venus, the divine feminine, over 500 years ago.
Bookending the collages are the hands of the artists and their kin. Photographs of the plaster casts from their sculptures draw you into a swirling collection of palms that give a meta yet somehow familiar and nostalgic feel.
Highlighter-bright backgrounds create a sense of unity between the panels. The striking colors weaving in and out of each other enhance the ideas of abundance and diversity that any good community is built upon.
The Iglesias sisters have somehow created a niche in a topic as broad as motherhood and familial relations. Their unique cultural make-up and complementary personal stories are expertly portrayed in emotional works that leave you with the realization that you need to call your mother and tell her “ love you.”
★★★★
Las Hermanas Iglesias’ Contemporary Project is on view at the Blanton Museum of Art Wednesday through Sunday until July 9, 2023.
