Eva M. Agüero was born in Caracas, Venezuela, 1991. She uses the materials as symbols to reflect on the ideas of perception and domesticity, using concepts associated with memory and territory. Domestic daily actions conjoin with construction materials to bring about reflections of their influence in our perceptual processes, and how our preconceived notions mold our reality. Agüero has participated in various shows in Venezuela, such as the National Universities art Prize at MACZUL, where she was awarded 2nd place, and the prestigious Youth with FIA Salon (Ibero-American Art Fair), where she received an honorary mention in 2019.
The lingering influence of colonialist ideals casts a shadow over my identity, the shadow of the inevitable. In 1853, Manuel Antonio Carreño wrote, “Those insignificant defects that in men could go unnoticed, stand out in women like the slightest stain on crystal”. The woman was presented as the ruler of the domestic setting and all domestic labor, a space where all passions were regulated, and docile behavior emerged.
His manual on "good manners" became the banner of class and, by extension, of classism in Venezuela and other Latin American countries. Now, 170 years later, I recognize its presence in my own life as I reflect on my migratory experience in the U.S. In my work, domestic iconographies, playful narratives, toys, and simple artificial materials create a dialogue between Carreño and myself. Through videos and clay sculptures, I question how and why I accepted these norms as truth and why are these colonialist structures of behavior and discrimination so embedded in all Western cultural norms?
As I transition into a more permanent immigrant status, I find myself reflecting on how this experience has forced me to confront my identity and cultural heritage, now filtered through new norms and preconceived ideas of who I am or who I am supposed to be. The experience of forced migration has made me question both my identity, as well as the social structures I encounter now. Tropical symbols such as pineapples and palm trees become an extension of this experience, as I acknowledge a stereotypical standard projected at me. Themes of diaspora, colonial ideals, classism come together to explore the dynamics of belonging and identity within playful scenarios to reimagine, reinvent and question Eurocentric patterns of perception.
