Letter to the Mother 1993

Curator: This work is Elena del Rivero's "Letter to the Mother," created in 1993 using ink on paper. At first sight, it looks like rows of repetitive lines, giving a sense of tediousness. Editor: Immediately, I'm struck by the apparent layering and how each individual sheet seems almost illegible up close—dense blocks of marks. It brings forth an aesthetic of almost concealed communication. Curator: Absolutely. Thinking of the 1990s, we confront intersectional subjects tied to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Given the artwork’s name, could the illegibility convey silenced voices from Eastern European female refugees or immigrants trying to communicate? The lines on the paper look like encoded memories trying to come forward. Editor: I find myself considering how this affects the formal reading. See how those layers create a spatial dynamic and almost sculptural depth despite being on paper? I wonder if del Rivero intends to explore form and surface as a conceptual medium—with ink and paper becoming text, erasure, or constraint. Curator: It brings to mind Derrida’s concept of “différance,” where meaning is deferred and never fully present. This piece could reflect that through cultural displacement. Where even when communications happen, nuances and contexts are inevitably lost or misunderstood across languages. The role of "mother" as the universal origin. A symbolic figure across all cultures. Editor: The paper is almost like a musical score. Del Rivero could be employing something like serialism; the composition becomes more than the sum of its parts and begins resonating at an atmospheric level that isn’t always explicit but profoundly emotive. Curator: I agree that "Letter to the Mother" could also portray resilience in a socio-political context of crisis. Mothers worldwide find a way to preserve language, memory, identity and shared history, through generations. Even with broken, half written, faded communications, it is what makes the link stronger. Editor: Looking at it now, I'm even more struck by how this resonates beyond mere form.