![Cristina Flores Pescorán, Catarsis [Catharsis] (2014–2016). Textile work made with red threads of different sizes crocheted. 500 x 300 x 5 cm. Courtesy the artist and Biennale of Sydney.](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_800,h_800,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/ws-marianeibrahimgallery/usr/images/press/main_image/items/42/42ce2746e7ae4158b1b26549e5cb4e78/catarsis_1240_0.jpg)
8 Artists to See at Biennale of Sydney 2024
Rather than treating healing simply as a medical outcome, Cristina Flores Pescorán’s commissioned sculpture for the 2024 Biennale of Sydney approaches recovery through the interconnectedness of body, nature, and ancestry. Made from Peruvian cotton thread dyed with maíz morado (purple corn)—a food that sustained the artist during her skin cancer treatments—the large-scale work draws directly from her personal experience of illness and recovery.
The sculpture reflects the emotions and desires Flores Pescorán experienced throughout treatment, while connecting those intimate experiences to her multidisciplinary exploration of healing. Presented at White Bay Power Station as part of Ten Thousand Suns, the work offers a perspective on recovery that extends beyond cure, emphasizing the physical, emotional, natural, and ancestral dimensions of the experience.
Excepted words written by Phoebe Bradford for Ocula.
