Patricia Domínguez Chilean, b. 1984

Gemstones: Green Onyx; Opal; Topaz; Labradorite; Aquamarine; Garnet; Ruby; Bumblebee Jasper; Crystal Quartz.

Visiting the observatories in the Atacama Desert, Domínguez learned that we are constantly receiving information, for example in the form of radio waves, from planets, exoplanets, black holes and other celestial bodies. At the same time, we are emitting information ourselves.

She imagined our planet speaking to us in an audible, invisible language, and dreamed of organic technologies that would give us the power to communicate – to become conscious of the frequencies we are emitting, and to speak the language of the earth.

Through her research for this series of watercolours, Domínguez also read her grandfather’s extensive studies of Cueca, the national dance of Chile, and spoke to a Cueca singer. He described the rhythms of the music as being tied to the mathematic patterns and orbital rhythms of the first four planets and first three moons in our solar system. This conversation provided her with the terms to visualise the abstract ideas introduced to her during the Simetría residency, as she imagines feeling these rhythms and synchronising her body with these movements to recalibrate to the earth’s frequencies. A ‘Quantum Cueca’ was composed for this project, performed at the end of the film Tres Lunas más Abajo [Three Moons Below].

Domínguez’s watercolours are produced over a series of weeks or months, with this painting requiring hundreds layers of paint to achieve the depth of the astral skies, to contrast the ethereal lightness and energy at the centre of the work.