Mercedes Elena Plazola Diaz

RAÍCES - 2024

Raíces is a tapestry inspired by a poem written by Maria Virginia Diaz Rojas. It explores themes of identity and belonging. Using the same materials as the artist’s previous project, Madre Patria, the tapestry delves into the complexities of cultural disconnection.

The work reflects the fragmented yet resilient identity described in the poem—“a broken weave, scattered and confused.” Through its fibers, Raíces expresses the longing for a distant Madre Patria while questioning origins and selfhood.

The knotted threads symbolize the process of transformation, where absences and memories intertwine to form something tangible and enduring. Each fiber tells a story of bittersweet evolution of the self as it navigates the tension between past and present.

By creating new roots “fiber by fiber,” Raíces becomes a meditation on heritage and resilience, celebrating the beauty of being “a little of everything and a little of nothing.” It stands as a visual ode to the unbreakable ties to the past, while reimagining the possibilities of the future.

Photos by Hannah Rot

Raíces was featured exclusively at the People and Places Exhibition at the Hypha HQ Gallery.

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