I met Constanza Oxenford in her condition of skillful and sensitive photographer. At the same time, I knew immediately that her ductility in this field was also evidence of a restless vocation to advance expressively in other fields, such as graphic practice and, opportunely, in the testimonial rescue and installation languages, physiognomies that she now exhibits in MOTHER ZOE.

Oxenford successfully articulates the coordinated functionality of essay and personal archive, poetic elaboration and intimate revelation; a peculiar coexistence in diversity that in this case seems more necessary than ever, given the spiritual and ethical demands that the artist had imposed on herself when approaching the project.

Where the landscape of the individual world stands as analogous to the conjuncture of the other, close to definitely shared, more collective, more universal emotions and vicissitudes, the sonority of social reflection becomes inexcusable, an essential ingredient that is perfectly in tune with those other demands. that, in addition to the artistic, occupy the hours and energies of Constanza, and that she, here, will surely want to keep in reserve.

As can be seen, the exhibition consists of a two-dimensional montage of a series of photographs in counterpoint, related to the territorial, biographical, characterological and affective fields that define the story and the profile of its two main characters, illuminated in a kind of prismatic portrait: with Oxenford in the triple role of narrator, witness and co-protagonist. In the manner of a panoramic constellation, a puzzle of words, texts, documentary records, drawings and confessional contributions appeal with unwavering honesty not only to the viewer's emotionality, but also to its critical consciousness. This network of clear intentions and pressing objectives, moved by the urgency of turning what could have been reduced to a mere melancholy anecdote into a broader impact scenario, is what turns MADRE ZOE into a virtual love manifesto with flashes of chronicle of customs, a multifaceted device that makes it easier for us to skip the simple formal enjoyment to commit ourselves to a more compassionate notion of what is human.

 

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Eduardo Stupía