When you hold a shell to your ear, you can hear the sea. This simple gesture already reveals the deep connection between our bodies and the ocean. But this connection is even stronger than most people might imagine. Natalia Domínguez Rangel has long been fascinated by the ocean. In this new Fundatie Forward exhibition, she explores the themes hidden in the deep sea.
Mysteries of the deep sea
We begin our lives floating in amniotic fluid, which has almost the same chemical composition as seawater, while our features still resemble those of fish. Our bodies consist largely of water. The deep sea is a link to the distant past of our planet; we are all born from the ocean. The unknown parts of the ocean are like the unknown parts of the human psyche. The deeper we dive, the more there is to learn. Yet the ocean is changing so rapidly that parts of it will disappear before we can fully understand them. We do not yet know what we are, and as parts of our ancient past disappear, we may never find out.
The deep sea is both ancient and threatened, mystical and militarised, life-giving and suffocating. It is both our origin and our reckoning. In the deep blue, we are confronted with the truth that the depths of the ocean are not separate from us; they are a mirror of our own depths. By listening to the ocean more attentively and consciously, we are forced to reflect on who we are, and on the others, human and non-human, whose qualities are interwoven with our own.
From Cloud to bubble
Natalia Domínguez Rangel transforms the Cloud of Museum de Fundatie Zwolle into one large bubble, filled with sculptures made of glass, ceramics and metal. With a composition created especially for this exhibition, she invites you to listen with a critical ear. DEEP DIVE is a call to return to our origins. What rises to the surface when we listen to the reflexes buried deep in our flesh, older than language, older than thought? And what would it be like to live once again in attunement with the earth that sustains us?
Photography:
Natalia Domínguez Rangel, Connecting Acoustic Spaces - Blue Cocoon, 2020-22, glass sound and LED light sculpture, photography: Simon Veres
Natalia Domínguez Rangel, Pain is red, 2023, lost-wax cast glass, plexiglass mirror, aluminium, mdf, 68 x 65 x 15 cm, photography: Simon Veres
Natalia Domínguez Rangel, Liquid Couple, 2023, VR sculpture, PLA 3D print, photo print, stainless steel, 55 x 80 x 30 cm, photography: Simon Veres
