The five sculptures resemble Latinx humans in the middle of a day’s work. They are covered in real clothing: a blue flannel shirt, black shoes with a white Nike label, a flowing white top with plastic, silver embroidery, cloth masks, a grey bandana, black pants splattered in paint. The faces of these figures seemed to be constructed with a paper machete type material with sculpted faces, large daring eyes, and swirling colors. The essence of the faces brought to mind the neo-expressionism artistic style and resembles many of Alba’s large-scale paintings that have been displayed at UMOCA and Finch Lane Gallery. This use of multiple materials created a striking combination of literal objects and abstract creations — offering a brilliant fusion of the tangible and the imagined, of something that is both deeply human and also an artistic creation.
The five figures facilitated an evolving sense of movement. WORKED is a durational performance. One figure with a bun at the peak of her head stood with one black pant leg rolled part way up the leg, the white shirt that laid over her implied body, flowed and rippled in the wind. The other sculptures held postures that implied movement. One sat on a paint bucket with shoulders hunched, hands resting between his legs, eyes gazing downward. There was the tangible sense of exhaustion; the weight of hard work sunk down the limbs of his body. Later into the afternoon, Alba picked up the figure in a brown hoodie that held a crescent-shaped shovel and carried him across the street in front of a storefront window of City Creek Mall. The window was filled with yellow, smiley faced balloons advertising some unremarkable sale. I was struck by the multiple layers of juxtaposition of this moment: a sculpture with a handcrafted face standing in front of mass produced, identical balloons. The earthy shades of browns that covered the sculpture’s face, clothing, and shovel against the monotonous, single-toned yellow of the advertisement. And the essence that our economy is run by the working-class (especially during a pandemic) against the backdrop of artificial sentimentalities.
One figure particularly caught the attention of intrigued pedestrians. The sculpture was on all fours covered in dark clothing and work shoes. He had large hands with fingers splayed wide across the ground and a sombrero slung across his neck, which is often seen as a reminder of the Southwestern and Central American workers’ rights movement. Multiple people dropped on their hands and knees, mirroring his position and peering at his face. Later a small child ambled up to the sculpture and plopped down directly across from him.
The child continued to sit there for multiple minutes, seemingly making eye contact with him. This sculptural installation is critical, raw, and emotional. Alba responds to the current and complex injustices that surround our country during a pandemic. These figures call critique to the hard, dangerous work that Latinx individuals complete every day that is essential to this country’s functioning and yet are treated as ‘non-essential’ components of the economy. In an interview with Modern West Fine Arts, Alba explained components of his artistic process, “I sculpt using everyday materials from my day job in construction. While materials like drop cloths, drywall mud, concrete, and lumber aren’t archival-quality, I am interested in how these materials will enact the inescapable slow decay of blue-collar bodies.” Alba brings real materials from the experiences of working in construction to protest the racist systems of the U.S.. Specifically, during a pandemic where working class communities are put at high risk of COVID-19, Alba’s work humanizes working-class individuals and calls outrage to their experience.
This sculptural installation will emerge at several other locations throughout Salt Lake:
September 1-2 at Wasatch Community Gardens (622 W 100 S)
September 3 from 2-5pm at Modern West Fine Art (412 S 700 W)
It is intentional that WORKED is on display on week days during typical working hours. Alba says, “My work is for tired, working people.” It is for the construction worker walking down the sidewalk to the next project, it is for the Uber driver transporting people through city streets, and it is for the essential humans that are worn down by the injustice of our socio-economic system.
Rachel Luebbert is a Utah-based dance artist. She also teaches and works in arts administration and programming, and has previously worked in Colorado, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. Her work will be seen at the upcoming Queer Spectra Arts Festival.
