Sher Cajucom contemplates death and life as collateral notions. In this exhibition, she frames dying not as the finality of existence, but as the marker of its perpetuity—a juncture simultaneously trivial and immense in its consequence. More specifically, she derives the show’s thematic core from the geological concept of extinction which is figuratively explored here to reckon with the persistence of life through, and despite, death to remain.
Throughout the five major mass extinction events in history, species perished. But at the same time, new life forms took root and flourished as the planet recovered. This idea of death as a juncture of both destruction and reconstruction emerges as the conceptual core of this collection. “When life ends, there is something that remains,” the artist explains. But in this case, the design of death is not simply to continue, but more importantly, to prosper.
Key to this is Cajucom’s use of the cave as an overarching visual metaphor. She references the white walls of her grandparents’ home where she used to draw as a child, an event that was formative in inspiring her to become an artist. In this way, the cave figures as among the earliest sites of artmaking not only in art history, but also in her own journey. Inside this, matter and memory accumulate and burgeon into something more just as how, in the words of the artist, little deaths eventually lead to something great—be it a new chapter in one’s artistic practice, a new life, or a new point in human history.
This temporal slant expands in Cajucom’s present imagery through the recurring centrality of fossilized matter incorporated with original poetry written in Braille. The use of both visual and linguistic devices reflects her practice that foregrounds art as a language; here, words take precedence, and images play a complementary role in conveying their intent. The artist excavates the depths of her devotions, with the tactility and tangibility of images and words colluding in visual-syntactic poetry.
Altogether, Cajucom articulates the exhibition as a shelter against the violent process of time—a site in which to resist absolute demise, where death may be transfigured into rebirth, and all pain may weather into something beautiful.
Exhibition notes by Chesca Santiago
