Naomi Rincón-Gallardo’s Resiliencia Tlacuache / Opossum Resilience (2019) is part of A Trilogy of Caves, which is a series of politically grounded yet playfully psychedelic videos inspired by and shot in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Oaxaca continues to experience the deleterious effects of land dispossession, such as those in the wake of recent aggressive mining concessions that have exacerbated existing social conflicts.
Blending surreal and psychedelic imagery, the installation features a projected video surrounded by suspended sculptures – costumes and accessories worn by the characters on screen – elaborating a multi-layered aesthetic where layers of reality and mythology are continually subverted. Overlapping the deep time of creation with the contemporary socio-environmental reality of a mining project imposed on an Indigenous territory, the film is directly informed by research and interviews done by Rincón-Gallardo with Zapotec lawyer and activist Rosalinda Dionicio about resistance, art, ancestral memory and fiction.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Naomi Rincón-Gallardo (b. 1979, North Carolina) lives and works between Oaxaca and Mexico City. Espousing a decolonial, feminist and queer perspective, her practice of mythical and political worldmaking addresses themes such as Mesoamerican cosmology, speculative fiction, vernacular festivities and crafts, pop music and theatre games. Solo exhibitions include Sonnet of Vermin, Hayward Gallery, London (2024); Tzitzimime Trilogy, la Casa Encendida, Madrid (2023); Artes Mundi 10, Chapter, Cardiff (2023). Group exhibitions include the 59th Venice Biennale (2022) and the 34th São Paulo Biennial (2021).
EXHIBITED WORKS
Naomi Rincón-Gallardo (b. 1979)
Resiliencia Tlacuache / Opossum Resilience, 2019
Single-channel video, 16:9, colour, 15:59 min, stereo
Courtesy of the artist and Servais Family Collection
This video contains flashing lights and images that may be triggering for people with photosensitive epilepsy. Viewer discretion is advised.
Naomi Rincón-Gallardo (b. 1979)
Resiliencia Tlacuache / Opossum Resilience: HILL, 2019
Reed, agave fibre, fur, fabric
110 × 100 × 100 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Servais Family Collection
Naomi Rincón-Gallardo (b. 1979)
Resiliencia Tlacuache / Opossum Resilience: LADY 9 REED, 2019
Reed, fabric, wig, tin
85 × 50 × 35 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Servais Family Collection
Naomi Rincón-Gallardo (b. 1979)
Resiliencia Tlacuache / Opossum Resilience: OPOSSUM, 2019
Reed, fur, fabric, papier maché, jicara
65 × 60 × 100 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Servais Family Collection
Naomi Rincón-Gallardo (b. 1979)
Resiliencia Tlacuache / Opossum Resilience: AGAVE/MAYAHUEL, 2019
Reed, ceramic, jicara, metallic paper
120 × 110 × 110 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Servais Family Collection
