Silvia Turbiner (Argentina)

The Fragility of Existence
Basketry
1.46 m x .8 m x.7 m
2021

In fragility of existence I am concern in covering the void and the way it relates with space.

I was born, work, and live in Buenos Aires. When I first started pulling and playing with bast fibers, it reminded me of how I feel when I swim, the same kind of movement and lightness. I feel a powerful connection between swimming and the preparation of the fibers and handmade paper. Paper is a versatile material full of poetry, delicate yet strong, smooth and structured, created in water, shaped by water.

I like seeing the whole process through, from the beginning right to the very end, from the gathering of the plants, through the drying, soaking and cooking of the fibers, and to the final sculptural result. I love the tactile feel of the surface and watchingwas it become a strong, yet vulnerable, skin that bends and flows with my breath.

My works are about identity and the nature of existence...they are about memories and heritage emerging through different layers of sculpted paper.

These works have a great symbolic meaning. It's an archetype of our oldest utensils, used to collect, to store. It is an enveloping, nurturing shape. In the fragility of existence, I am concerned with covering the void and the way it relates to space.

Covering the Void
Handmade Kozo lace
2 m x 2 m
2024

Vulnerability is it's main attribute and I find beauty linked to lightness. the duality between opposites is a recurring theme throughout my work: strengthness and fragility.