Andrés
de Varona

Contact

Contact is a reconnection to death through the practice of rituals and performance. I created ceremonies with family members, often incorporating the last article of clothing that was purchased, yet never worn by my mother before she died. I strive to compose a rich visual exploration of grief and loss; getting intimate with death against a cultural context that often gets swept under the rug, even though it is one of life's few hard guarantees.

My family navigated into new transitioned roles and responsibilities, we created spaces that allowed us to confront the psychological and somatic shock that death delivers. In modern society death is something that's become nearly invisible and that's typically told to us rather than witnessed. Contact builds a spiritual connection to death by re-inviting it into my home space. My family chose to reclaim death by working alongside it and questioning the lengths we go to sanitize it.