Augusto Esquivel is an artist from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Represented by the Now Contemporary Art Gallery in Miami, Augusto’s work involves the use of thousands of carefully place, multi-coloured sewing buttons. On his website he describes his process:
“I am often obsessed with comparisons of reality and potential and the balance between them, in art: the idea of chaos in perfect order: an object seemingly solid to the eye can also be fragile and inconsistent to the touch; a common object used to create a piece of art becomes transformed into something complicated and intriguing.
I realize how insignificant and small a simple sewing button can be as it lays in my grandmother’s sewing box, but at the same time how unique and precious it can become as part of a work of art. Like an atom in a molecule, each button serves and shapes the whole. I hold the button to my ear and it whispers to me, ‘I want to be…’”
Below you will find a small sample of Esquivel’s wonderful artwork. Sprinkled throughout you will find some of Esquivel’s thoughts from a great interview he did with Vineri Handmade. For more, be sure to check out his gallery on his personal website and Now Contemporary Art.
[via Fubiz]
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What guided you to art? Was it a natural calling?
“Art was always present in my life. I didn’t feel any revelation or ‘natural’ call I think that is kind of a myth! You either make the decision to do art,or you don’t, and then you act accordingly. You have an urge to create, to paint, to sing, to act. I feel far from being a ‘call’. It is also a lot of hard work! Like any other job.”
[Source: Vineri Handmade – Interview with Augusto Esquivel]
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What’s your process like for a sculpture?
“I see an object that catches my attention, like a piano, for example and I do research on it. The dimensions, colors, number of black and white keys, different types. Then I create the acrylic where the strings are going to be hanged, then I drill the holes. Then I select the buttons, type and quantity (for the Piano I used 60 pounds of sewing buttons). Then I paint the buttons. To do that I have to display them very carefully one next to the other and then I use spray paint. After they dry I have to turn them over one by one and paint the other side. Then I thread them with monofilament and hang them. Is only then that I have to position every button in the right place to sculpt the object. It is a ridiculous amount of time! But I enjoy every minute of it!”
[Source: Vineri Handmade – Interview with Augusto Esquivel]
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