Barrio Escalante, San José

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Nube Tobita, by Ángel Lara González. There is an almost geological tension in the way the face detaches from the stone without ever completely abandoning it.

Ángel Lara González

Nube TobitaInquire about availability

Year
2016
Technique
Tuff Stone
Dimensions
13 × 38 × 28 cm
Status
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Palette
stone grey, ash grey, brown ochre, light grey
Brushwork
Direct carving on volcanic stone featuring a contrast between rough hewing and smooth polish.

Curatorial analysis

There is an almost geological tension in the way the face detaches from the stone without ever completely abandoning it. In Nube Tobita, the volcanic block retains the violence of its original fracture; the rough ridges, irregular edges, and open pores of the material frame a face that sleeps or meditates. The tuff, porous and of a grayish hue with subtle brownish veins on its left flank, simultaneously acts as a support, an expansive mane, and a telluric bed.

The surface treatment establishes two irreconcilable tactile rhythms. Toward the edges and upper perimeter, the carving leaves abrupt grooves reminiscent of the mineral crust's natural striation, expanding horizontally like a condensed mass of rock or petrified vapor. At the center, conversely, the stone yields to a smooth, continuous polish that shapes the lowered eyelids, broad nose, and fleshy lips endowed with a quiet sensuality. This transition between rough crust and lithic dermis makes no effort to disguise the origin of the matter: the skin remains stone, but a stone that has learned to breathe.

Resting directly upon the horizontal plane, the sculpture eludes the monumental verticality of the traditional bust. The face appears to float or emerge from the surface like a heavy exhalation, justifying the poetic paradox of its title. Rather than imposing a portrait onto volume, Ángel Lara González proposes a state of suspension where the human and the telluric coexist in balance. The work does not force a figure upon matter, but rather suggests that this physiognomy already dwelt, silent, within the depths of the volcanic deposit.

Nube Tobita

More works by Ángel Lara González

4 works

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