Cole’s work in hand-made paper takes its inspiration from the centuries-old tradition of elaborate handcrafted lace produced to protect and decorate domestic furniture. Embedded in the overall imagery is Cole’s iconic figure obtained by scorching canvas, wood, or paper with a steam iron used to echo tribal masks to slave ships, references to West African culture and diaspora. Cole places great importance in revealing the spiritual energy in found objects, through formal and semantic associations, which here are carried forward by the mandala-like composition. In Por la mesa, steam iron plates radiate in each of the four sections, from a central cluster of eight parts, each one embossed with an image found on a 1957 packaging for a steam iron, representing a smiling housewife at the ironing board.
Por La Mesa de Mi Abuelita
