Luis Robayo

 

Indigo

Zippers on material

2022

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The primary purpose of a zipper is to hold two parts together.
Despite their convenience, zippers bring frustration and pain.
They constantly snag and break.
By not overexposing my feelings to others, something in my
life would rather stay hidden; secure and concealed.
The sense of intimacy, sexuality and the impulse to open
them, to unzip, makes zippers powerful.
The uneven patterns and the metal creates a visual vibration
that translates to life.
As an artist, my work examines repetitive forms and patterns.
Lately I have been working with repeated dollar signs, but here
I decided to explore zippers.
I spent long hours struggling with the medium. My work was
constantly interrupted by:
Broken sewing needles
Broken thread
Changing sewing needles
Skipped stitches
In the middle of creating this piece, I came upon a very difficult
and painful period of my life. I thought this pain, and the
memory of it, would cause me to hate this work. 
But somehow it shifted in a different direction. Or maybe I
shifted in a different direction. I kept working on it and it helped
me. Towards the end I felt a sense of peace, accomplishment
and unity.
I was born in Colombia 1966 and moved to the United States in the
early eighties. I currently live, and work in Woodstock, NY. I have
shown my work in Manhattan, Florida, Paris, Spain, and South
America.

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