#16: La Mano (The Hand) 2008

Editor: Marina Pallares’ 2008 print, "#16: La Mano (The Hand)," is strikingly simple yet unsettling with its bold black and white contrast. The geometric eyes and sparse decoration remind me of folk art, maybe playing cards. How do you interpret this work's visual language? Curator: The graphic boldness is immediately arresting, isn't it? It’s interesting how you picked up on that 'folk art' sensibility because the imagery is immediately symbolic. Consider the hand itself, often seen as a signifier of power, creation, or intervention. How does its fragmented form, bisected, and adorned with what appears to be watchful eyes, shift or complicate this established symbolism? Editor: That's a great point. The fragmentation is key. The hand is a source of action, but here it feels passive, almost observed. Those "eyes" are staring back at us, which gives it a very different feel from most depictions of hands. Are these kind of reversals of meaning common? Curator: Precisely. Reversals, inversions, distortions – these are the tools of symbolic language. Think of how cultural symbols are constantly reinterpreted. Here, those eyes within the hand transform it from an instrument of agency to something watched, judged, potentially powerless. Notice also the spiraling forms – on the thumb, echoed elsewhere. In many traditions, spirals represent growth, evolution, but also the cyclical nature of time, destiny. Editor: So, by using these established symbols, Pallares creates a visual language, but then twists it to communicate something new? Curator: Exactly! It becomes a dialogue between established cultural memory and a contemporary artistic expression. How does understanding these symbolic shifts impact your initial impression of the artwork? Editor: I see it now less as a piece of decorative art and more as a statement about agency and observation. Those watchful eyes completely changed the context for me. Thank you! Curator: And thank you. Paying attention to those cultural symbols can be an exciting and ever-rewarding art exploration.