Claudia Alarcón is a textile artist from the La Puntana community of the Wichí people of northern Salta, Argentina. She worked with other members of Silät (Anabel Luna, Graciela López, Ana López, Mariela Pérez, Fermina Pérez, Francisca Pérez, Marta Pacheco, Rosilda López, Margarita López, Melania Pereyra, Nelba Mendoza, Tomasa Alonso, and Edith Cruz) to process, spin, and dye fibres from the native chaguar plant and to weave them into the textiles exhibited at the Biennale Arte. Departing from inherited weaving practices, traditional geometric patterns bend to fluid forms of colour that spill across the works and animate them. Marking a close connection with the water and the land, they evoke the cycles of nature. These artworks stem from stories dreamt and told by elders in the community which warn of the relationships humans forge and break with all living things.
This is the first time the work of Claudia Alarcón, and the work in collaboration with Silät, is presented at Biennale Arte.
—María Amalia García
