the perfect trip, the perfect trap
monoprint
18’ x 23’
45 x 60 cm
The American Dream
Contemplation in the Subway Car
In the New York subway, inhabits an archetype frequently and easily recognizable by its gaze and portage. Attributes can appear one at a time, although they are usually combined: eyes closed, far away look, mobile tech device, newspaper, book, backpack, big bag...........
My work attempts to reflect some of those inhabitants of the subway, prototypical moments; flashes that repeat itself day after day.
The subway, particularly cumbersome for "territoriality", multiples the need to narrow one's own space. There is no escape from gazing out to the landscape that one might engage in on a bus ride.
The New Yorker copes with this alien proximity by avoiding one's outward glance, to prevent from seeing oneself across the aisle, as if looking at a mirrored reflection.
These tools are used to allow travel without acknowledging, or being recognized.
Listed below is the tailor made universe:
Closed windows,
Insulated ears,
Isolated mind and spirit,
Short naps before or after work, an endless day with a crazy schedule?
Sneaking a rest to be strong enough to pursue, "The American Dream"?
Small island transit from one urgency to another?
Going into the bubble, distancing oneself from others?
Tailored "Silence Spa"?
To not recognize?
To not be recognized?
To mark the distance?
I am surprised that even when sitting in a crowd, when people talk about the loneliness in the Big Apple, we decide to isolate ourselves...
I go on contemplating, trying to understand..........
El sueño americano.
Contemplando en el vagón del Subway.
En el subway neoyorquino habita un arquetipo frecuente y fácilmente reconocible por su mirada y pertrechos. Estos pueden aparecer de uno en uno, aunque preferentemente lo hacen combinados: ojos cerrados, mirada lejana, aparato móvil, periódico, libro, mochila, bolso grande,…
Mi trabajo intenta reflejar algunos de esos habitantes del Subway, y de esos instantes prototípicos, momentos que se repiten un día tras otro.
El metro es especialmente incómodo para la “territorialidad”, multiplica la necesidad de acotar el espacio propio. No puedes ausentarte de él perdiendo la mirada en el paisaje que divisas desde un tren o un autobús.
En un habitáculo donde el mínimo espacio de separación personal se ve invadido repetidamente por extraños, el neoyorquino se protege cerrando sus ojos, aislándose con sus auriculares, escribiendo mensajes, distrayéndose con sus juguetes inteligentes, la prensa, un libro…. Estas herramientas le permiten transitar sin reconocer ni ser reconocido, en un universo hecho a medida, eludiendo reflejarse en el otro como un espejo.
Ventanas cerradas,
Oídos aislados,
Mente y espíritu cercados.
¿Cabezadas antes o después del trabajo, en una jornada interminable con un horario imposible?
¿Arañazos al descanso para tener fuerzas y seguir persiguiendo “el sueño americano”?
¿Pequeña isla de tránsito de una urgencia a otra?
¿Alivio de las largas horas de traslado?
¿Spa de “silencio” ?
¿Para no reconocer?
¿Para no ser reconocido?
¿Para marcar la distancia?
Me sorprende la “soledad” que denunciamos en la Gran Manzana, lo acompañados que estamos durante esos trayectos y, sin embargo, lo solos que decidimos estar…
Sigo contemplando e intentando comprender…
LOURDES RAMÍREZ, BIO
Visual Artist born in Málaga, lives since 2007 in New York.
Self-taught, in recent years she has worked the sculpture with Alicia Tafur, in Bogotá; and during her stay in New York, she is deepening her knowledge in the painting, the drawing, the engraving and the lithography in The Art Student League.
Knowledge and deepening in other expressive tools have opened up new avenues of exploration and facilitated new vehicles of expression for this artist.
Figure human gesture, the look, the flash of an instant, and give voice to those who do not use to have it have been the focus of her interest. A biography of vivid life moments expressed strongly and with bright and joyful movements. Nowadays, in continuous evolution and searching, she is working in add simplicity, suggestion, lightness, and she investigates new media to transmit it.
Live in New York allows her to soak up the most alternative and classic, and live with a very mixed human range. Her objective is to explore this mosaic of moments, cultures and artistic expressions taking place in the City that Never Sleeps, assimilate them and tell them.
The expression of her work at the moment is a biographical report focused on two projects: A Travel Journal and The American Dream. The first, a story of images and colors of her experiences in contact with other countries and cultures; the latter, a deepening of her stay in Manhattan, the great show of the Subway and the different warps that weave the Big Apple.
In her career she has had solo exhibitions in New York, Bogotá and in several Museum and Venues in Málaga and its municipality.
She has also participated in group exhibitions in New York, Bogotá, Málaga and other Spanish cities.
She has collaborated in collective interventions with collective Málaga Contemporary Artists -MAC– in the University of Málaga, and designed and participated in seven editions of Open Studios, organized by the collective MAC which she was a co-founder member.
Nowadays she belongs to the international collectives DIN-A4, Pen and Brush, International Women Artists’ Salon in New York, and Collective of Plastic Artists in Málaga
Her work is represented in the municipality of Mijas and Guaro and in private collections of Andalusia, Extremadura, Madrid, Canarias, Basque Country, Catalan, Argentina, Colombia, and New York.
http://lourdesramirez.com/
Info@lourdesramirez.com
Tel. + 1 347 803 0831
