https://carlacastiajo.wordpress.com/

In process...

Obscene Corner

Object, 2012-2015, human hair

Made out of my own hair which I collected from my bathtub after showering, and then rolled and squeezed between my hands.
It is expected to cause some discomfort, but what is this? Some nest that looks rather filthy – what is this for? A fetish object? Cocoons? It seems quite perverse.

Bodily Nature/Turf

Body Piece, 2015, my own hair and gold

Hair grows like grass. I combined my own hair and gold, these are two materials that will remain when I cease.

Fertile Field for Fertility

Body Piece, 2014, soil, pubic hair and thread

Fertile land is cultivated. Pubic hair, because it covers the sexual organs, is somehow connected to sexuality and fertility. The body, like soil, is also fertile and able to give birth, to grow, new life. Soil has the capacity for generating and can also be used to bury. 

Virililty II

Body piece, 2015, human hair, leather, textile and oxidised silver

Hair is a sign of virility, and the growth of facial hair in males is a sign of sexual maturity. For this work, the fine weaving techniques utilized to make false moustaches was used .

Wild

Body Piece, 2014 – 2015, human hair, leather, fabric and oxidised silver

The abundant hair is a sign of male virility, but the amount of hair on the body makes man different from other animals. What is the right amount of hair to cover the body? 

Symbolic Castration

Body Piece, 2015, leather, cotton, fabric, thread and pubic hair

One finger from a pink/skin-coloured leather glove was detached from the glove. The original shape was preserved by filling it with white cotton. Then a white fabric was placed to cover the cotton and several pubic hairs were attached. The work is phallic shaped.

Bodily Nature/The Great Orifice

Body Piece, 2014-2015, pubic hair, horse hair and oxidised silver

A body piece made with pubic hair, tightly knotted and attached one by one to a single horse hair, used as a structure to hold the shape. This work can be placed around the neck, preferably a long neck which can suggest a phallic element.

Purus et Promiscuus, triptych

The title is in Latin – Purus et Promiscuus – which means purity and promiscuity. Purity is usually associated with a condition in which a person of the most remarkable qualities maintains sexual purity. Promiscuity, however, is based on a value-judgment, sexual promiscuity is certain to lead to a possible conflict with traditional moral standards or values.

I chose to use a Latin name as a reference to the liturgical language used in Catholic ceremonies because the main propose of this work was to consider the abuse of children that has occurred in the Catholic Church.  

In the exhibition, the issues of sexuality, power, the idea of being corrupt and being corrupted were explored. 

There was purity, but suddenly someone came and took innocence away.

All light was obscured by darkness, and promiscuity reigned.

What was taken cannot be replaced.

What was once hidden will now come to light and be revealed.

Purus et Promiscuus

Body piece, 2014, gloves and pubic hair, detail

The thumb fingers of the gloves were removed, leaving an oval hole to which I attached pubic hair by knotting it in place.

Ready to seduce your virility

Ring, 2009, soap, pubic hair and gold, 70x60x30 mm 

This work was made for the project Lingam. Lingam represents life and fertility, a creative force, a force that is strongly linked to sexual energy.  For this work I used materials such as gold, pubic hair, and soap. The use of hair as a material can cause different reactions: it can be attractive or repulsive. Soap is an important material associated with cleaning.

Full of you II

Brooch, 2008, gold and human hair, 70x55x5 mm

I used hair of a friend to make this brooch.

In the nineteenth century, hair was used as a metaphor to remember and preserve the memory of a loved one and someone special. 

Auto Portrait

Brooch, 2007, gold and my own hair, 70x50x10 mm

In my work I have been exploring the idea of the aesthetics of repetition.

I used my own hair to make this brooch that I titled Auto Portrait.

The hair is part of a person, the person's identity, the person's presence but it can also show on the other hand a person's absence. In a society in which so much depends upon appearance, especially for women hair helps to communicate sexuality but it can also be a means of expression for female individuality. Hair was always a significant and remarkable attribute of bodily appearance. The association of hair with sexuality has made hair the symbol of a remarkable force and the distinction between male and female.

Covered

Body piece, 2007, natural cork, polyester thread, 30 000 mm

 Project 2nd Skin, the idea was to use cork as a material. The skin is the covering of whole body, but does skin show the body or does it hide it?

Martyrs - Heroes in Paradise

Brooch, 2006, rubber, gold and hair, 130x130x23mm

Brooch, 2006, rubber, gold and hair, 110x86x72 mm 

Brooch, 2006, rubber, gold and hair, 93x72x54 mm

Brooch, 2006, rubber, gold and hair, 94x69x59 mm

I decided to work with the theme of Martyrs and New-Martyrs.

The Martyrs sacrificed their body for their ideals, believes, passions, for something they consider more important than life itself.

I decided to work with rubber – dolls heads in combination with gold and my own hair.

Head – Brain; Reason; Memory

Gold – Value; Desire; Precious

Hair – Beauty; Passion; Sensuality

Process: I cut off the head of dolls and I removed the hair, next I had them attached to the gold pin using my own hair.

Martyrs

Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, Gregório Lopes, 1536-38, oil on wood panel, 119x244 cm

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Portugal

Body piece, 2005, canvas, candles and wax, 280x1100x30 mm

In the painting by Gregório Lopes, The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, the martyr is represented, according to his most common, beautiful, sensual, undressed, androgynous iconographic type. His body presents itself as serene, despite its torment. Death is present but in a gentle metaphoric way. Just as candles are consumed by flame, death also seems to consume him slowly. His body has stopped being important. It is sacrificed for an ideal. At the present moment, the body is also sacrificed for ideals of beauty or belief. 

Death-Life

Necklace, 2005, paper and fishing line, 15x15x10000 mm

In this work, inspired in nature, I was focused on the transformation and deterioration which occur in nature after the fall of the petals of the flowers and the leaves of the trees; the way how they are received and camouflaged in the soil and their slow process of degradation which continues to allow life to develop itself. 

Cut

Brooches, 2004, oxidized Silver, 19x23x2 mm

Shadow

Pins, 2002, silver, rice paper and painted wood, different dimensions

Vice Versa

Necklace, 2002, aluminium and silk, 1060x37x10 mm

In this necklace I have applied an old tradition. A piece of jewellery was often crafted as preciously in the front side as in the back.