Shifting Landscapes | Art & Artists

Carolina Caycedo’s Cosmotarrayas are created from handmade nets and other objects collected by the artist from residents of Latin American river towns facing environmental damage and economic hardship following the construction of hydroelectric dams, which dramatically alter the landscape and water. Responding to these conditions, Caycedo creates these talismanic assemblages as tributes to activists fighting the dam projects and to those resisting displacement simply by persisting in these villages in the face of diminishing resources. The nets become symbols in Caycedo’s sculptures, affirming a belief in the river as a communal, living force. For the artist, the fishing net (or atarraya) represents the unique connection between fishing communities and the river, embodying knowledge, food sovereignty, and economic autonomy.

Carolina Caycedo’s Cosmotarrayas are created from handmade nets and other objects collected by the artist from residents of Latin American river towns facing environmental damage and economic hardship following the construction of hydroelectric dams, which dramatically alter the landscape and water. Responding to these conditions, Caycedo creates these talismanic assemblages as tributes to activists fighting the dam projects and to those resisting displacement simply by persisting in these villages in the face of diminishing resources. Nets become symbols in Caycedo’s sculptures, affirming a belief in the river as a communal, living force. For the artist, the fishing net (or atarraya) represents the unique connection between fishing communities and the river, embodying knowledge, food sovereignty, and economic autonomy.

This work is one of Nancy Holt’s earliest Locators, a series of works that she described as “seeing devices” which aimed to redefine the viewer’s relationship with their surroundings through subtle interventions in spatial context. Here, an industrial metal pipe affixed to the ground directs the viewer’s attention to a specific point (or “locus”) in the corner of the wall. When viewed through the pipe, the painted black shape transforms into a perfect circle surrounded by a halo of light, resembling a total eclipse. Holt’s Locators transform ordinary views into perceptual experiences that encourage a heightened awareness of light, shadow, and perspective. These early sculptures laid the groundwork for Holt’s later monumental earthworks, part of a lifelong exploration into the nature of vision and site-specificity.