Nestled within the calm of Leeds Corn Exchange, Fernanda Cortes’ appearance at The Sculpture Gallery offers a compelling, if a little disquieting, guest exhibition.
At first glance, it may be easy to pass off Cortes’ sculptures as merely fantastical creatures far removed from the realities of life. However, on closer inspection, it is clear Cortes astutely weaves together the ordinary with the imaginary, allowing her sculptures to sit within a hazy in-between where the mystical can offer a commentary on the realities of life. A dog’s head is paired with a human’s body. A replica of a skull sits on stilts and twists open to reveal golden teeth. A Shar-Pei sits upright with a chain round his neck.
34 cm x 33.5 cm x 33 cm
Hand-built porcelain and lustres.
Many of these sculptures focus on the body and the disturbance it undergoes during day-to-day interactions. ‘Collecting Bad Friendships’ depicts a man clutching three pink aliens, his face wrinkled to that of a dog, his eyes glazed over and vacant, as though bad friendships act to devoid him of himself, even as he clings to them. But it is not just his body that is transformed – the bad friends he is collecting are shown to be leaking in blue down his torso, as though it is the ‘bad friends’ who are suffering from the subjugation of being ‘collected’. The power dynamics found in the normality of friendship are being challenged.
Again, in ‘La primera vez que te conocí’ (‘The first time I met you’) it is the title of Cortes’ work that unlocks the depth of her sculpture. This is no surprise, given Corte sees her work as closely linked to her writing, there often being a short story inspiring her sculpture or vice-versa. In this sculpture, a body, reminiscent to that of Christ’s, is pinned to the wall. At the top of the body sits a dog’s head with his eyes
covered but ears pricked. Talking to Cortes, as strangers in the very moment the sculpture depicts, it is easy to see why Cortes has been drawn to this image – there is a coyness to an interaction with a stranger that is paired with a desire to draw close and listen. The body is being exposed and yet this moment of weakness is also one which is later heralded – one is about to be discovered, and the ears prick in anticipation.
La primera vez que te conocí
65 cm x 20 cm x 19 cm
Hand-sculpted porcelain, glaze and golden gilt.
Cortes’ use of porcelain, a material known for its pliable, finicky nature and ability to sag under only a little pressure, complements Cortes’ exploration of the body’s malleability. Wrinkles are contrasted with youthful, glossy glazes and gold is often paired with stark whites or bright reds, as though the body cannot decide exactly which way to turn. Or perhaps the contrast acts as a reminder that the human body, like sculpture, can be both – youthful and old, fantastical and ordinary, wearied and bold. Cortes’ work continually pulls together these contrasts, much as the gentility of Leeds Corn Exchange has found room for the brazen nature of her exhibition.
Cortes’ exhibition can be found at The Sculpture Gallery until the end of August.
Photography by Lydia Mugge.
