Carmen Vivanco

Memorias

Wire sculptor

©Martha Suarez Aros

©Memorias

Pieces with mixed identities

Carmen works metal as if it were textile
Her fabrics have a mixed identity
Her pieces dialogue with different techniques

Although she studied fine arts, Carmen Vivanco maintains to have learned as much or more with her fellow artisans, mainly in the fair spaces where she has exchanged techniques, experiences and visions of life with them. "I have learned from many women who have been essential in giving me enough understanding and allowing me to move forward," she says. Carmen went through experimenting with different materials and supports such as clay, wood, paper, plant fibres, metals, and silkscreen printing, among others. "After thousands of woven turns, I deciphered the unconscious movement that I repeated for years. It is a mantra that connects me with myself, heals me and allows me to dialogue with the world.” Technically speaking, she now makes objects that are a fusion between jewellery and textiles, between pottery and basketry. Her workshop is called Memorias and now also includes the participation of Mercedes Nistal Beleña.

Interview

©Pilar Castro Evensen

©Martha Suarez Aros

How has being born in Chile influenced your work?: Being born here influenced my way of seeing the world, therefore, what I do and what I believe in. My practice comes from this habitat. I say what I do not like, it gives me a voice, and it gives me air to be able to live without stopping to create. Everything has to do with everything, each piece I create is the extension of my language, the one I created to talk about this place.
Is the concept of blending present in your work?: My work is an incendiary mixture of tradition and innovation. A cocktail that allows me to talk about who I am and where I come from, without usurping or making anyone uncomfortable. What I do is part of me, therefore, it is champurria (a person with a mixed identity, "neither from here nor from there"), a hybrid, a mixed artifact.
What does your work bring to the world?: My work offers a deep and sincere look at the memory of my territory, so as not to forget where we come from. I live on a border. My language is for the people here; for my daughter, for my family, for anyone who lives here. In the future, all these creations will be vestiges of a new time in re-evolution.
How do you define traditional and innovative?: Tradition is present in every weaving, in every strand. It is also present in every technique used, in the memory of the materials and in the imagination of a culture in resistance, which is the one I inhabit. What is innovative is the method of constructing artifacts and the way in which different techniques dialogue.

Carmen Vivanco is a master artisan: she began her career in 2000 and she started teaching in 2000