Material World Opening Reception and Exhibition

Material WorldDana Caldera

Opening reception Friday, November 3, 2023, 6:30 – 9:30PM
On view Saturdays, 1 – 5PM
November 3 – December 9, 2023
I create contemporary abstracts made with found paper, found fabric, and handmade paper. Each work is a study of sentimentality and materiality. Sentimentally, I’m drawn to the nostalgia in the found objects. Materially, I consider both paper and fabric to be fibers, and these found fiber objects seem linked in the way that they carry our stories, record our lives, how they are impermanent, and in their physical properties.
As I work, I layer and combine the found fibers into a new collage form. The resulting piece is a physical stretching and remaking of the found material, which gives new energy to the discarded records of a life lived. Water, time, value, domestic labor, craft, and community are additional themes that run through the work.
Material World is a site specific artwork created for the Window Box Gallery. The oversized collage artwork completely fills the wall of the gallery, like a hanging quilt, wallpaper, or indoor mural. The resulting piece is highly tactile and visually complex. Material World is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.