The Essential of Me (El Yo esencial)(2016)，Sanguine pastels and graphite on paper、wax，50 × 50 × 75 cm，Courtesy of the artist

Deeply rooted in South American origins, Chilean artist Sandra Vásquez de la Horra’s artworks are nurtured by rich, varied visual cultures and in-depth inquiries of South-American and European literature, philosophy and anthropology. Her works explore diverse themes such as religion, sex, myths, social realities and Chile’s history—often expressed in her alarming and ghostly wax-dipped pencil drawings.

 The Essential of Me (El Yo esencial) is a continuation of the artist’s experimentation of creating three-dimensional freestanding works. They are made by scoring and folding her paper drawings into simple house-like structures which resemble traditional Chilean cinerarium. While her coded drawings may initially appear disturbing or unsettling, closer interactions may reveal an ambivalence that is alien yet familiar, like a remembered experience.

 In Vásquez de la Horra’s world, this ambivalence is an important characteristic. As one walks around the house, these child-like illustrations of creatures inspired by voodoo and alchemy seem to metamorphosize into physical forms. Magical narratives emerge as part of everyday banal and psychological realities, and one is confronted with fragments of imaginations.