Mariana Telleria’s artwork delves into the depths of meaning aroused by objects, often manipulating everyday objects (old wooden frames, branches, beds, and crucifixes) and generating synchronicities between disparate entities. The initial edition of the work Dios es inmigrante (God is an immigrant) (2017) is positioned in the garden of what once was a hotel/hospital erected around the port of Buenos Aires to facilitate immigrant entry to the country in the early twentieth century (currently the MUNTREF - Museo de la Inmigración. The piece comprises ten black-painted aluminium sailboat masts of varying sizes. Stainless steel shrouds sink into a subterranean sea and boat masts are transformed into evangelising crosses. A lavish bronze plaque underscores its status as a monument of national commemoration, while the title celebrates transnational transit. “Migratory flows are one of the forces that have shaped the world,” the artist notes.
—María Amalia García
