Chicharrón: Alma Colectiva Residency, Guadalajara, Mexico, 2026

Chicharrón suggests a conversation between two materials; chicharrón, the ubiquitous fried pig skin found in Mexican markets and ayates, the handwoven body wash cloths.

Like chicharrón, which is rendered until it blisters and puffs into something unrecognizable from what it was, the ayate is material transformed beyond its plant origin. Dyed, wrung out and set to dry, the fibre buckled, curled and hardened on its own terms. What was flat became three dimensional. What was a domestic object became sculptural. Touched by a human body, the ayates began to resemble a human form. Material whisperings are what remain. Each ayate sculpture holds the memory of its origin, plant dye, the water it soaked in, the time it took to become what it is now.

Ayates (from the maguey agave plant), handwoven in Hidalgo, Mexico, botanical dyes, fishing line. Various sizes. Installation size: 1.8 × 4.8 meters, 6 × 16 feet.