Big enough for two
Palapa, 2017 by Tanya Aguiñiga
Powder-coated steel and synthetic hair
Named for the open-sided thatched huts that pepper the beaches of Mexico. These distinctive shelters are woven by Mexicans but used mostly by tourists. Aguiñiga’s mysterious, surreal interpretation of these everyday structures is symbolic of her own ambiguous identity, as someone who navigates the dual worlds of palapa maker and user, of and outside both cultures.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Renwick Gallery
Washington, D.C.
March 22nd, 2019
The Humble Fabulist 