Selva Aparicio’s Auto-da-fé from 2021 is a work of profound solemnity, intricately connecting the cycle of life and death through the medium of organic ephemera. Aparicio, known for her engagement with natural materials and their metamorphosis, often explores themes of mortality, memory, and the passage of time. In her art, the act of collection and preservation is a deliberate counterpoint to decay, each piece a requiem for the fleeting nature of existence. The dandelion seeds and flower stem collected from the hallowed grounds of cemeteries, meticulously arrayed around a desiccated rose, evoke a silent dialogue between the materials’ origin and their artistic recontextualization. This dialogue imbues the artwork with a metaphysical weight, where the transience of organic matter serves as a testament to life’s impermanence.

The visual poetry of Aparicio’s Auto-da-fé is sublime, casting an aura of tender contemplation. The dandelion seeds, poised in their stillness, whisper of life’s persistent urge against the inexorable march of time. The dead rose, once a symbol of fervent beauty, now speaks to the fragile brevity of such splendor, a poignant memento mori. There is an implicit paradox within the work: the dandelion, a symbol of resilience and the ability to thrive in adversity, stands sentinel around the withered rose, itself a symbol of love’s mortal coil. Together, they form a sculptural allegory, a silent symphony celebrating the impulse for life even as they are enshrined in the stasis of death. This embodiment of life’s impetus within the domain of death is a tender assertion of continuance, an “act of faith” in the enduring cycle of birth, growth, decay, and rebirth.

Aparicio’s work deftly embodies the principles of the ready-made, elevating found objects to the status of fine art by their placement and presentation. Yet, unlike the industrially manufactured objects of Duchampian tradition, Aparicio’s materials are inherently organic, each seed and stem a unique product of nature’s own design. In Auto-da-fé, these organic elements are transformed into a sculptural tableau that challenges the boundaries between the natural and the artistic. The careful assemblage on a stark backdrop creates an arresting visual tension, a juxtaposition of life’s ephemeral dance and the eternal quietude of art. It stands as a meditative reflection on existence, a graceful and solemn paean to the fragile yet fierce beauty of life’s impermanent and ever-unfolding narrative.