Vegetation Room Inhotim

Since the early 1980s, Cristina Iglesias has been constructing one of the most striking sculptural discourses of our time. Her work structures a labyrinth of fictions that use sculpture and architecture as a physical and mental itinerary proposed to the spectator. Her interest in conceptual elements taken from the baroque universe– such as movement, the labyrinth and the illusion of the infinite – have marked the construction of her works, which are also inspired by references to the fantastic literature of the 19th century and science fiction. Iglesias thus transports us to an imagined space where the materials are used to mislead the spectator. The presence of water, for example, introduces a temporal sequence that disorients our perception, altering the notion of space-time. Evoking a closed garden, a secret paradise or household space, Vegetation Room Inhotim, 2010–2012, was conceived especially for a clearing within a forest at Inhotim. The work consists of a mirrored structure, immersed in the nature, whose interior topography is articulated in accordance with a predetermined route, fostering sensorial encounters. The physical presence of the water and light and the repetitive low reliefs of the plant life dialogue with the surrounding nature, and can be perceived as real traces of vegetation, memory or fantasy. The denomination Habitación (bedroom) arose in the artist’s work in 1993 on the occasion of her participation in the 45th Venice Biennale, where she exhibited Habitación de Alabastro, whose unfoldings included the Habitaciónes Vegetales, made in 2000.