May These Whispers Turn Into Armour.
From the series ‘New Prophets’, 2024.
Wood, paper pulp, plaster, brass wire, glass beads and polyester thread.
82x40x40cm.

 

May These Whispers Turn Into Armour

In ‘May These Whispers Turn To Armour’ artist Jorge Mañes Rubio turns again to the traditional Andalusian chair to address themes of homemaking, protection and transformation. The quirky seat, entirely hand-finished in white plaster, serves as a three-dimensional canvas for intricate bas-relief decorations. The final result is the product of an exhausting, time-consuming process working with thousands of colourful glass beads.

The front features an open pomegranate, each seed meticulously depicted. On the back we find a celestial being, their many-eyed wings magnificently open. These two intercultural icons are direct references to the importance of ritual and magic: the pomegranate as an ancestral medicinal plant revered all across Eurasian traditions, and the cherub as a powerful mediator across more-than-human realms. The sculpture is completed with 11 tiny talismans hanging from the chair’s frame, ceramic exvotos in diverse shapes: a hand, a fish, a feather, a vase… These pendants vibrate with every small movement, harnessing energies across the room.

The complex work constitutes an effort of love and imagination, elevating the chair from functional object to mythical artefact, capable of providing us with enchantment and protection.