1998, bamboo chair, velvet, clay roses, soil, 7’ h x 9' diameter
The Neuberger Museum, Purchase, NY
“A baby wicker chair, covered with extremely delicate ceramic roses each with an oversized, thorn-like stem, all red, placed atop a pedestal which is covered with blood-red velvet, then surrounded by a circle of dirt and more roses. As such it is one final attempt to protect the child from what she may perceive as a predestined fate.”
-Dominick Lombardi, New Art Examiner
Roses made with corn starch are a tradition in Colombia, which my mother taught me in 1992. It was such an exciting medium with so much meaning and resonance. Since 1992 I made multiple installations with hundreds of clay roses inspired by my mother and my culture.
1998, brocade, clay roses, 8’ x 8’
Solo exhibition: The Neuberger Museum, Purchase, NY
“The delicacy and subtlety of Cortés's work is especially apparent in Piso, consisting of a length of brocade extending from the wall down to and out onto the floor. The floor covering is qualified by a heap of clay flowers. Simultaneously formal and feminine, the piece entails a simple plane of fabric enhanced by multiple forms.”
-Judy Colishan PH
1998, brocade, clay roses, 8’ x 8’
The Neuberger Museum, Purchase, NY
“The delicacy and subtlety of Cortés's work is especially apparent in Piso, consisting of a length of brocade extending from the wall down to and out onto the floor. The floor covering is qualified by a heap of clay flowers. Simultaneously formal and feminine, the piece entails a simple plane of fabric enhanced by multiple forms.”
-Judy Colishan PH
2000, painted bamboo childs chair, clay roses.
Wavehill, Riverdale,
1992 - 1994, Installation - clay sculpture, clay flowers, fresco on marble, salt, 8’ h x 8’ l x 8’ w
“Nature is possibly the most formidable component of Cortes’s work. A rhythm set up by repetition, slight irregularities and gathering of forms relates her sculpture to flower beds, clustered seeds or stem of leaves.”
-Judy Collischan PH.D.
Roses made with corn starch are a tradition in Colombia, a method that was taught to me by my mother in 1992. A Flor De Piel was the first installation I created a few months later. It was such an exciting medium with so much meaning and resonance. I made multiple installations with hundreds of clay roses inspired by my mother and my culture.
A FLOR DE PIEL - detail
Installation - Swarovski Crystals, nylon wire, mirror, branches, 4’ x 14’
Wave Hill, Riverdale, NY
1996, Installation - gouache on paper, pearls, brocade, lamé, crystal, clay beads, mirror, wood, 8’ h x 8’ d x 16’ d
Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY
“Longwood’s “stand” includes installations that could pass for theater sets, notably Esperanza Cortes’s “The Wedding Suite”, where the bed is [a] giant box covered with white damask and the curtains are made of fleshy-looking beads and flowers.”
-Vivien Raynor, The New York Times
2000, encaustic painting on wood, table, clay, 11’ h x 4’ w x 2’ d
Wave Hill, Riverdale, NY
“Esperanza Cortes’s Multipart work “Altar to those Forgotten”, is a heap of unglazed clay roses along with exaggerated long thorns on a table put in front of an abstract painting. If viewers are literal minded, they can read its evanescent imagery as ascending souls, perhaps spirits of Wave Hill.”
William Zimmer, The New York Times
Another version of this work was shown at Lehman College Art Gallery.
Silk, clay roses
Roses made with corn starch are a tradition in Colombia, which my mother taught me in 1992. It was such an exciting medium with so much meaning and resonance. I made multiple installations with hundreds of clay roses inspired by my mother.