Rafael Ottón Solís
Umbral de Fuego
059
Threshold of Fire Faith, sacrifice, pain… life.
Threshold of Fire collects an important part of the artistic trajectory of Rafael Ottón Solís. The installation, as central axis, is combined with bi-dimensional elements focused on the thematic link. References such as war, the Central American situation, and suffering intertwine with a comforting spirituality. The reminiscence of the sacred space and elements that constitute life seeds and altars arises as evidence of a reality; of a journey through works that pursue communion. The artist presents religiousness and faith from an integrating perspective. The legacy of Christianity, the Pre-Columbian heritage, and diverse Eastern conceptions interweave to emerge as a binding idea of the sacred. This broad conception of the divine encourages reflection through symbolic elements and the use of space as a place devoted to ceremonial rituals. Syncretism manifests itself in the recurrence of elements that take you to Pre-Columbian constructions and roads, merging with the Eastern legacy in the use of color, composition, and space management. The religious symbolism integrates in the recurrence of elements that allude to the holy Eucharist, the cross, and diverse Catholic traditions. This construction of the sacred space emerges from installations created in an almost ritual-like manner. It takes us through diverse conceptions of the history of religions by alluding to the axis mundi concept, the point where the three levels meet; the idea of the cross as center of the universe gives way to regeneration. In like manner, the symbolism of the center, the circle as a perfect form, is taken up in the creation of spaces that separate from the profane. In addition, vegetation, understood as renewal, is shown as a resurrection element. Life is conceived as a never-ending cycle, a cyclic time. On the other hand, the presence of the historic, social, and political context integrates with liturgical and ritual topics. Armed conflicts, either within the isthmus as well as abroad, translate into works of hope. Blood, offerings to God, bullets, and bread are all elements
Curator Chavarría at the artist´s house and workshop in Moravia, Costa Rica.
of a sacramental experience. The persistent reflection on the armed conflicts of the world and the role of the Catholic Church in Central American countries is also a main focus of Solís’s work.
The use of the word, of the literary as a supporting point, is critical in the conception of this work. Words and materials become one, dialogue, and accompany each other. References such as Arte Povera and the interest for experimentation make the construction idea the foundation that gives rise to his installations. Paint joins tridimensional elements within this scenographical conception. The search for abstraction integrated into the materic leads to an economy of resources. The installation as a constant language resorts to the use of simple, poor, construction materials that join an austere palette. The use and reuse of these resources impregnate the same with meaning and memory. The symbolic connotation given to the materials employed and the recurrence in their use change them into existential elements of the processes of death and resurrection. Every detail of the spaces created by Solís pursues the magnitude, the convincing, the eternal. Stories of a turbulent time, stories of the human; stories that take shape in images as passages of past experiences.
María José Chavarría, Curator MADC. November, 2010 * Translation to the English Language: Ana Ligia Echeverría Alfaro