Courtyard in bloom

Courtyard in bloom. 27 pieces painted of steel, and grass. Variable dimensions, heights ranging between 0.50 m and 1.50 mts. 2010. I. Municipality of Pichidegua, Chile.

This project involves the construction of a “landscape” that develops inside the typical inner courtyard of a Chilean country house, a space that usually provides a certain intimacy and space for contemplation.

The concept of inner courtyard suggests the projection of a work of art that develops throughout the surface object of the intervention, omitting the notion of a monolithic object or a marked verticality. Given the roofed corridors that surround this courtyard, it would be inappropriate to conceive a vertical piece for the site as it would trouble the gaze of the observer. For this reason, this project proposes a series of pieces that comprise a “landscape” or “inner garden” and must be understood as an overall engagement of space where the series of pieces deployed is both at a human scale but also relates to the architectural space within which it stands. The pieces are distributed in such a way as to generate a grid of colours selected because of their chromatic qualities and their contrast with the green colour of the grass that was laid on the surface to be intervened.

It is also very important to point out, also, that the project uses (as imagery) a very important local form of craft, I am referring to the craftwork made using leaves of corn, a craft developed primarily by women, who build beautiful and curvaceous forms dyeing the corn leaves with attractive and warm colours, many times using tones of red, oranges and yellows, the colours of preference in the development of these crafts.

In connection with this, I would like to quote the words of the craftswoman Sandra Arriaza, who practices this craft: “In my work, I only use corn leaves, wire, needle and thread and a green adhesive tape, specially designed for the making of flower arrangements. Others make straw hats, baskets, handbags, placemats, small brooms, dolls, angels and flowers. The flowers are my own invention and I make them of different kinds and sizes. I make daisies, roses, tulips, and sunflowers. Before we used to work only with corn leaves in their natural colour. I dye the leaves with vegetable dyes that I buy in the city. I use red, yellow, purple and orange a lot but I also mix and create more colours. In any case, corn leaves do not absorb all colours.”

This project was awarded through an open call for applications issued by the Chilean Ministry of Public Works.