I Lost the Keys to Apartment 302 explores themes of family life and identity as immigrants to Canada, drawing inspiration from poetry, film, the artists’ South American heritage, and feminism. Bright, visually striking, and often surprising, RAZA’s visual language is at once accessible and subversive. A television on fire, distorted faces tethering fragments of identity together through a cool stare, a schoolgirl who forgot her body at home, running for the bus: these dreamscapes made by RAZA are, at first glance, playful, colourful, and fun. Spend some time with the work, and you find yourself contemplating what it means to be at home; at home in your kitchen, at home in your body, or at home in a city.
Write-up by Kaylee Maciejko.
Write-up by Kaylee Maciejko.
Main Artists:
Laura & Valentina Caraballo [RAZA]
Exhibition:
The Bows Gallery | Calgary | January - March 2021.
A dream
It feels like a dream
Mom! Have you seen the keys?
I wonder when I lost them
I wonder if someone took them
Or if I sold them
I wonder if the walls still have the marks
of my teeth sinking in them
I call them to come take me home
The line does not ring
The phone, the recipient, the need
Nothing exists
This is all I could keep
Un sueño
Se siente como un sueño
Mamá! Has visto las llaves?
Me pregunto cuando las perdí
Me pregunto si me las quitaron
O si las vendi
Me pregunto si las paredes
todavía tienen las marcas
de mis dientes hundiéndose en ellas
Los llamo para que me lleven a casa
La linea no suena
El teléfono, el receptor, la necesidad
Nada ya existe
Esto es todo lo que queda