A tiger today
has come
and has eaten all my dreams.
Lately, it doesn’t let me sleep.
And those nights when I manage to fall asleep
(and maybe start to dream a little)
it comes.
And it wakes me up.
Crying.
And so
and because of that
I’m so tired.
A tiger comes and eats my dreams.
“A tiger comes and eats my dreams” is a project that arises from the need to understand,
analyze, and reflect on the current reality. This proposal has gradually developed around
ideas, thoughts, concerns, and above all, it is nourished by dreams during those so special
days (and nights).
Investigating about reality and dreams both on a personal and social level, conceptual
bipolarities such as fear-hope or utopia-dystopia appear. But perhaps the most interesting
thing is found between the two poles or in the round trip journey between the utopian and
the dystopian. Undoubtedly, we live in a truly complex and chaotic world.
And speaking in such abstract terms, I then ponder the meaning (if it’s the same for me
and for you, or even if it exists at all). And perhaps the translation of that confusion
would be the insecurity of the present. Austerity; the austerity of critical reflection and
imagination. Because among so many other restrictions, they don’t let us dream. (prevention
and protection measures).
It seems like we’re losing reference points. Our values are fading. Because maybe we’ve
started to doubt what is objective or rational.
(It also seems like there are communication problems.)
On a plastic level, the expression of these reflections follows a path from the figurative
to the abstract. From the objective to the subjective and vice versa, the need arises to
invent communication codes. And from there also arises the need to establish symbols.
“A tiger comes and eats my dreams” is a multidisciplinary project (painting, sculpture,
sound). We could say that the creative process is divided into five steps towards
abstraction and has as its starting point two representations of the real world, the tiger
and the palm tree, which also serve as symbols to complete the narration of my disappeared
dreams. On one side, the palm tree symbolizes nature, the need to explore and know, the
journey, the exotic. It is a palm tree found in the depths of the jungle or on a tropical
beach and represents harmony, beauty, serenity. On the other side, the tiger represents
the wild, the unknown, the dangerous and symbolizes our fears and insecurity about the
unforeseen.The creative process spans from a figurative and recognizable representation
that gradually loses its shape and transforms. It is when a symbol begins to doubt its
meaning or when we ourselves begin to doubt the validity of existing symbols. When
everything changes and fades according to rules that escape the dimensions of objectivity
or logic. When everything starts to appear darker, more incomprehensible, more amorphous.
When we realize that we are losing our critical capacity and above all our imagination.
Because now it’s harder for us to dream.
This little era,
Does not dream
Does not dream, yes
Does not dream, no.
(Lullaby of this little era, María Salgado and Fran MM Cabeza de Vaca)
Palm tree 0. 2020. blue ink on paper. 33 x 23 cm
Palm tree 1-4.2020. blue ink, crayons and salt on paper. 25x 17,5 cm
tiger 0. 2020. blue ink on clay, 13 x 3,5 x 7 cm
tiger tooth. 2020. blue ink on clay, 13 x 4 x 6,5 cm
tooth tiger. 2020. blue ink on clay, 9 x 4,5 x 6,5 cm
tooth. 2020. blue ink on clay, 9 x 4 x 5,5 cm
