Mar Solís

(Madrid, 1967)

Corona XIX

2011

Mahogany wood

200 x 190 x 130 cm

Inv. no. 557227

BBVA Collection Spain



This is an excellent example of the beautiful wood sculptures by the artist Mar Solís.

This sculptor has worked with several different materials throughout the various phases of her practice, though she always returns to wood. As she says herself, “wood possesses intrinsic qualities such as warmth, familiarity and life. Its surface skin is more sensual and alive than any other material and I leverage these aspects to create a kind of drawing in space.”

Solís’ sculpture is eminently organic. Her personal process of treating sculpture is based on such diverse sources as gothic architecture, oriental calligraphy and plant forms borrowed from nature. Her works commandeer their surrounding space, the sculptor’s main field of activity, with curved forms that are whimsically entwined though without losing their sense of equilibrium: “My works activate a space for reflection and abstract meditation on the ideas of fragility and balance.”

In the series Coronas, the sculptures loom over the spectator. After carefully studying the effects of shadows while installing the piece on the wall, the artist co-opts them as a yet another element within the work itself. Like aerial vaults, they create a space for viewers for unhurried contemplation and aesthetic pleasure.