October 14 - November 25, 2023
From Ivester Contemporary:
“Ivester Contemporary is proud to present Como Que Buscaba, a solo exhibition of sculptural works by Diego Mireles Duran. “Como Que Buscaba?” or translated into English, “Like What Are You Looking For“, is a self-directed question phrased by Mireles Duran. It is no coincidence that this phrase is also commonly used by merchants when greeting their clients at Tianguis Markets found throughout Mexico. It’s through this phrase that Mireles Duran becomes interested, in the nuanced and literal sense, in the idea of the state of being to be “looking for.”
In their most recent work, Miereles Duran consolidates several attempts at finding sturdy ground to the diasporic question of “like what are you looking for”. Their questioning is echoed through the exploration of various material applications such as sculpting, resin casting, chroming and vacuum forming. Through their understanding of these mediums, they are able to form a distinct optical vocabulary to their internal dialog proceeding in the Tianguis Market landscape. Material and personal discoveries alike function in tandem as they sublimate onto various media and playfully respond to the existential query of what it is that they are looking for in that specific time of practice.
Miereles Duran’s sense of color is informed via experientially resonating market goods i.e Bimbo brand pastries, Squirt soda drink and their displays. Internal conversations relating to the liminal experience of existential dispersion lends to the distorted motifs of various traditional Mexican household products such as corn fungus, and Talavera kitchen tile, or the action figure in the toy department. Miereles Duran is convinced that access to the food, music, clothing, and the various things they grew up consuming is a way of finding stability while in diaspora. If the statement is true that we are what we consume, Miereles Duran finds themselves right at home at the Tianguis.
Diego Mireles Duran is a first-generation interdisciplinary artist with roots in Northern Mexico and the Rio Grande Border. Their creative practice explores liminal identity and ways to root in something recognizable while in diaspora. Through a variation of self-taught media such as painting, sculpture, sound and digital collage. Diego Miereles Duran borrows references from ancestral culture as well as current and childhood memories. Their optical language is a playful expression; chaotically conglomerating motifs such as 90’s Mexican pop and Noreño Music, Mexican candy, traditional artisan practices, and even home cleaning products of their youth such as “Fabuluso.”
“I want my output to represent what liminality feels like to me. I want it to feel like a long lost word landing on the tip of the tongue. “”
Reception: October 21, 2023 | 7–9 pm
916 Springdale Rd Bldg 2, Suite 107 Austin, TX 78702
Austin, 78702 Texas
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