Concrescence

Carbon Bodies (Human Lapidary) - 2021 - Adrian Cornejo Carbon Bodies (Human Lapidary) is a sculptural installation consisting of a table that is covered in chunks of wood charcoal that have been cleaned, cut, and polished to resemble gemstones. The work is an exploration of the relationship that people have with the various cultures to which they are exposed. Of focus is the way in which our exposure to cultural concepts, standards, and aesthetics causes us to change or create ourselves, and how these changes hold a certain value.

The use of the term “lapidary” in this work is a reference to the process of cutting and polishing gemstones, which is essentially a process in which natural objects are transformed and given value based on various sets of aesthetics. I want to draw parallels between the lapidary process and the way in which people are taught to alter their bodies, thoughts, and beliefs to adhere to cultural standards. Transformation towards these aesthetics raises a person’s social capital for example: seeking to conform to proper height-weight proportions, wearing clothing that represents current conventions and that align with your perceived gender, desiring to accumulate wealth, acquiring advanced educational degrees, pursuing a heterosexual and monogamous relationship, displaying proper religious and political beliefs.

Clean Room - 2020 - Adrian Cornejo

This is a piece I created while in residence with the Institute for LGBT Studies at the University of Arizona. 

A cleanroom is a specialized environment used in the production of sensitive hardware and for scientific research. They are designed to keep airborne particles at an extremely low level so to not interfere with any manufacturing processes. My interest in cleanrooms began when lockdown/quarantine/social distancing directives were being executed in America due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Though a cleanroom may not necessarily be a sterile space, free of microbes, it became a visual representation of the exaggerated conclusions my anxiety led me to, of me living in a clean room out of fear of becoming sick. A cleanroom represents, for me, an extreme form of isolation. A space, within a room, within a building, keeping away all of outside.