dorothy r. santos

The Truth in our bodies: Reflections Sonya Clark’s Work

Some time ago, I was introduced to the work of Sonya Clark. It encapsulates the truth, which resides in our bodies. Hair, for example, contains information about our biology that we often neglect or forget. Our predispositions, if you believe they exist are engrained in every part of the body. Clark explores hair in such a […]
Re-contextualizing Moral Optics of Foucault and Botero by Eduardo Mendieta

Another (recent) short paper I wrote on artist, Fernando Botero, for the course, Contemporary Art: History and Theory taken at UC Berkeley Extension (for Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Visual Arts). ************************************ One of the fundamental lessons in drawing class entailed drawing untold numbers of fruit, boxes and bags. The exercises were required to instill the importance […]
Interdependence through Mika Rottenberg

A few weeks ago, my girlfriend and I went to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and watched Rottenberg’s new work entitled, Squeeze (2010). I titled part of my entry as ‘Interdependence’ because, coincidentially, I’ve been reading about interdepedence with others (and, even with inantimate objects) through a Buddhist lens and trying to incorporate that awareness within a meditative […]
My/Your/His/Her Little Pony?

Worel put it best when she mentioned giving the viewer a ‘simulacrum of memory’ with Rocking Horse Winner (RHW). She provides the observer with a fondness for something they may have never even experienced before. The piece itself is grand. A real beauty to behold from a distance.
Death of Louise Bourgeois

It’s been some time since Bourgeois’s passing. As I sit here reflecting on the first time I saw her work, it’s rather difficult to imagine the contemporary art world without her. She worked on such a grandiose scale but it couldn’t have been any other way. With her mastery of the human body and a […]
Sophie Calle: Absence of the Artist

From the documentation of sleepers to a man’s description of his life through the experiences of his colleagues, friends and family, Calle’s work emphasizes the absence of the artists to create portraits and capture universal ideas of contemporary life.