Street Address
City, State, Zip
Phone Number
Your Custom Text Here
A Él Mismo.
An offering that references a historical past, looking to create an echo through a mindful and contemporary lens, that suggests a theoretical alternative to a stolen ancestral future.
Doña Alba.
Mi Abuela.
Soraya.
Mi Mamá.
Don Julio.
Mi Abuelo.
Christian De Restrepo.
Yo.
Andrés y yo.
Andrés.
Mi Hermano.
Feeling a gold, unfolding hand on me.
Born out of reflections of my families’ immigration to the United States from Cali, Colombia through Mexico in 1985, these thoughts became the foundation for these presented artifacts.
I reflected on my relationship with my family, and started pulling from my own experiences growing up in the United States as a first generation American/Colombian. I experienced life on a type of border, una frontera, constantly teetering between the American self and the Colombian self. Never American enough for this, never Latino enough for that. This led to the realization that in my recent years, I had begun to suppress my Latinoness, as a result of feeling a pressure to “fit in” with the white American world I was half in. But heritage tugs at you, this identity crisis that follows me wherever I go lead me to realize that not just me, but my family, and our people’s thoughts, beliefs, ideologies, religion, cultural practices, concepts of beauty, sexuality, gender, and language, el español are all inherited traumas as a result of Spanish Colonization.
I’ve got no option, I’ve inherited this.
Outside of all of this, who were we? Who was I? What version of me would exist had history been different? Would there even be an alternative me?
No.
I wouldn’t exist. I am a byproduct of Spanish Colonization. Tengo sangre española. I am a byproduct of Blanquimento.
- - -
Presented within this space, are objects that explore, build, and bring to life this notion of a stolen ancestral future. Re-imagining a timeline where the Spanish Colonization of what is now called Latino America hadn’t occurred, these objects manifest the possibilities and offer a visual narrative to what Pre-Hispanic cultures from Colombia, like the Musica, might have looked like had they had the chance to thrive into the 21st century.
Pieces are brought to life through portraits of mi Abuela, mi Abuelo, mi Mama, mi hermano, y, yo mismo. Giving flesh to the ancestors, while honoring those that lead to my being here.
Mi cuerpo es una continuación de sus cuerpos.
Embellished with staples, grapas, in an array of black, grey, silver, copper, and gold, the pieces echo the technical artistry of my ancestors’ metal work, and their respect to the process.
El oro se extrae de la tierra, se transforma, se usa, se hace símbolo y vuelve a la tierra como ofrenda.
We want to be known to ourselves, a nosotros mismos, with grand self mythologies.
- - -
- - -
Before you begin your journey through this world, it is called Perdida.
The name was pulled from the archeological site Ciudad Perdida, (direct translation, “Lost City” , locally know as Teyuna) located in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia. It was a site that was originally inhabited by the Tairona, founded about 800 CE, it consists of 169 terraces carved into a mountainside, a network of tiled roads, and small circular plazas.
- - -
Click on one of the Aspects below to begin your journey.
El Pensamiento
Aspect No. 1
El del Monte
Aspect No. 2
El Plateado
Aspect No. 3
El Cobreado
Aspect No.4
El Quimbaya
Aspect No 5
El Guardián
Aspect No.6
El Gran Tumbaga
Aspect No. 7
El Serpiente
Aspect No.8
El Regresó
Aspect No.9
El Iluminado
Aspect No.10
El Dorado
Aspect No. 11
El Jaguar
Aspect No. 12
El Eterno
Aspect No. 13
El Tumni
Aspect No. 14
El Cobre
Aspect No. 15
El Yerbero
Aspect No. 16
El del Sol
Aspect No. 17
Christian Hernán De Restrepo Zúñiga Velázquez Betancourt, is a Boston-based American/Colombian first generation maker who explores the intersections of opposing worlds and the Self, by joining unusual and mundane materials to create a cohesive whole from disparate parts.
Through an obsessive ritualistic process, De Restrepo fabricates hand-worked textiles, primarily expanding the possibilities of his signature stapled fabric, la tela engradapa.
By transforming the textiles into objects that border the line between sculpture and wearability, he echoes the beliefs and technical artistry of his ancestors’ metalwork, and their respect for materials and the process.
—-
chrestrep@gmail.com.