"Con las palmas de las manos, con las plantas de los pies" ("With the palms of the hands, with the soles of the feet") arises from a singular encounter between my mother, a worm and the leaves in her garden. Inspired by this experience, where the dialogue between humans, vegetation and other life forms is intertwined with sounds and interactions, this installation represents a natural and acoustic echo. Through forms that evoke edible leaves found in my family’s habitual diet and reminiscent of Eduardo Chillida’s botanical drawings, this is a series of sculptural objects based on the musical traditions of Costa Rica and the Basque Country and springing from the natural environment and its ability to bring about encounters.
Chiscasquilas (Con las palmas de la mano, con las plantas de los pies, 2024).
Installation: Pressed wood sculpture with coloured veneers, polyester rope and sound. Variable dimensions
Inspired by the leaves of the chaya or tree spinach, a plant native to southern Mexico and Central America. This free aerophone musical instrument is designed based on the firringila, a popular Basque instrument used as a sonorous children's game. Chaya leaves are used in Costa Rica to prepare stews and "picadillos" (traditional dishes of minced meat). The leaf has many nutrients and it acts as a vermifuge, antioxidant, digestive and anti-anaemic.
ITABOS (Con las palmas de la mano, con las plantas de los pies, 2024)
Installation: Wood sculpture assembled with screws, soft drink bottle tops, polyester rope and sound. Dimensiones variables
An idiophone-type musical instrument not directly struck. Its design is inspired by various instruments that resemble each other in the way they ring and the way they are activated when used, such as the cowbell, the Basque kaskabeleta and kaskabiloak and the jingles of a tambourine.
Its shape represents the flower of an itabo (yucca), which is a plant native to Central America, is edible and is considered a super food that can be used to prepare stews and picadillos. It is a flower with many nutrients and qualities, being a rich source of fibre and containing small amounts of certain minerals and vitamins, including vitamin C, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus.
FLOR DE CHIRAS (Con las palmas de la mano, con las plantas de los pies, 2024)
Installation: Turned sappan wood sculpture, purple flower assembly, textile and sound. Variable dimensions
Directly struck idiophone-type musical instrument made up of three pieces. Its functional design is based on the traditional Basque txalaparta, tobera and kirikoketa, especially the latter which is made up of three pieces and has truncated cone shapes.
It is inspired by the chiras flower or the flower of the banana and plantain plant. This is the most widely consumed tropical plant and fruit in the world. It grows and is cultivated in most tropical areas.
It is a plant that is consumed almost in its entirety, including its flower, all of its parts used as food in the countries where it grows, especially in Costa Rica. The chira flower as a food is made into picadillos, salads and soups among other dishes, it is rich in fibre and high in tannins, acids, flavonoids and antioxidants that help control some heart and sugar-related diseases, as well as preventing damage that leads to cancer.
MAZORCAS (Con las palmas de las manos, con las plantas de los pies, 2024 )
Installation: Sculpture in river stone and sound. Variable dimensions
An idiophone-type musical instrument not directly struck. It is made up of two parts that create the rhythm when struck. Its design is based on the Basque tarrañuelas, similar to castanets.
This instrument is inspired by two main components of Central American gastronomy: the corn cob and the "manos de piedra" that form part of the grinding stones used to grind food.
CIPLINAS (Con las palmas de las manos, con las plantas de los pies, 2024 )
Installation: Sappan wood sculpture with articulated joints, polyester rope and sound.. Variable dimensions
A directly struck idiophone-type musical instrument. It is made up of two articulated wooden pieces that have 5 cylindrical rows each. Its design is based on swords and dancing sticks, and also makes reference to the machete dances of some Latin American countries.
This design is inspired by the ciplina plant, which is a species of small-stemmed palm that inhabits or grows in areas extending from Mexico to Panama. The flower of the ciplina palm is rich in nutrients, carbohydrates, protein and fibre.
HIERBA DE ZORRILLO (Con las palmas de las manos, con las plantas de los pies, 2024 )
Installation: Wood sculpture, natural fibre fabric from fique or cabuya plants and sound. Variable dimensions
Free aerophone-type musical instrument. It is composed of a piece of wood in the form of an oval, elongated board. It is tied to a rope 20-30 metres in length woven in different patterns. Its design is based on the bramaderas or buzzers which are instruments that generate a sound by breaking the air.
This design is inspired by the zorrillo plant, a wild species from Costa Rica that is edible and has leaves that are of great value as a source of food and medicine.
HOJAS DE GUAYABAS (Con las palmas de las manos, con las plantas de los pies, 2024 )
Installation: Green borosilicate blown glass, metal supports and sound. Variable dimensions
Aerophone-type musical instrument. It is inspired by a mixture of objects such as ocarinas, cuckoo clocks and a number of toy wind instruments – the panícula de maíz, the supriño or the silbatos de hoja – in which their decoration or materiality represent aspects related to nature and plants. In some cases, leaves and bark are also used to create sounds or design instruments.
The design is based on the leaves of the guayaba (Psidium), a fruit tree that grows in tropical areas whose traditional medicinal use is as a remedy for respiratory illnesses.
PALMA Y ESTOCOCA (Con las palmas de las manos, con las plantas de los pies, 2024 )
Installation: Chonta (Bactris gasipaes) and sappan wood sculpture, polyester rope, stainless steel support and sound. . Variable dimensions
Directly struck idiophone-type musical instrument. It is inspired by a mixture of percussion instruments such as the marimba, the tobera and the txalaparta in which several keys of different sizes are used to generate melodies when struck by drumsticks.
The design is inspired by a small palm, a plant native to Central America and parts of South America, all parts of which are used for different types of food as well as for the production of utilitarian objects and clothing.
