MARIA DURAN SAMPEDRO
The Strength and Vulnerabilities of Innocence
The Strength and Vulnerabilities of Innocence, 2019
Polymer clay, resin, and wax
9 x 3.5 x 3 (in)(each figure)
This work is available
"Not everyone grew up in a happy home. Some had to grow up sooner than others. Some without knowing and to no choice of their own. Others had their childhood shortened and chipped at with distress.
She. She is about innocence. The strength and vulnerabilities of her own innocence. Alone she is vulnerable and small. She is holding a butter knife without understanding but aware of wrongdoing. Alone in her place of violence and ignorance. But in numbers she is strong and the scars of her childhood will make her strong. And her innocence will arrive."
"Situations is a mold piece of two square plaster slabs that hang heavy on the wall. These slabs connote the inescapable contexts of abuse and the certainty of an internal battle against self-deterioration which follows."
Situations. 2019
Plaster
18.25" x 18.5" x 1.75"
This work is Available
On the Line, 2020
Acrylic and tape on canvas
40" x 60"
This work is Available
"On the line is a psychological landscape of childhood trauma and the elusiveness of memories, painted with acrylic. This painting illustrates vigilance before and after child abuse. It also contains instances of the tendency of survivors to mistake violent or inappropriate gestures with love.
Dogs in art are often depicted in the majesty of predatory hoards during a hunt, leaping to catch the vulnerable hare or the wounded duck. Conversely, dogs have also been portrayed as the loyal companions we welcome dearly in the home. Not all of the dogs in my painting are sneering. Some even seem to be playing with each other. This ambiguity poses the insidious violence manifesting at home.
As a kid growing up in Bogota, I saw many stray dogs on the way to school, or when crossing the street. I desired to befriend and play with them while knowing that they might bite my hand. This tension between affection and aggression is the same emotion survivors of abuse experience. By having a desire to be loved and to be looked after only to mistake that love for damaging behavior, having to grow up sooner than others. "