EL CANTIDAD POR CALIDAD

2/27 - 4/26, 2021

Dab Art Co. is pleased to announce EL CANTIDAD POR CALIDAD, a solo exhibition of textile works from Los Angeles based Chilean artist Dominga Opazo. In english the exhibit’s title translates to ‘quantity for quality’; a statement bringing attention the wasteful elements of consumerism.

The structure of weaving is enmeshed in our everyday lives—from our bedding to the way we dress. As a fourth-generation, Chilean textile craft person living in the U.S., Dominga’s focus is the examination of how Chilean textile history and design, climate change, and trash displacement are interconnected with the social and cultural realm and contemporary art practice.  The current textile industry in her country perpetuates oppressive, capitalist systems, which affect sociocultural, economic, and political discourses and establish a paradoxical cycle that destroys the environment yet sustains Chile’s economy. The massive, invisible amount of human labor involved in the history of the textile industry is subsumed by pervasive socio-economic, cultural and political agendas. 

Gallery Reception Saturday, March 20th 5-7p | 334 S Main St. No. 5001, Downtown Los Angeles

Artist Talk Saturday, April 24th 5-7p | 334 S Main St. No. 5001, Downtown Los Angeles

Historically, hand produced textiles have been one of the most important parts of Chilean’s textile industry. Hand produced textiles shaped Chilean culture, providing communities with work, artistic expression, and a sense of identity. Although this industry is still part of the culture, Pinochet’s dictatorship changed how crafters are valued and perceived. Chile opened its door to the free market, which shifted production value, made a negative impact on crafter communities, and is now destroying the environment.  My final exhibition at Cal Arts included a video titled, “Conversacion” (2020), which investigated how four generations of female textile crafters in my family experienced the consequences of this industry in Chile. 

Traditionally, textiles start from raw natural materials which are then woven together to create shelter and protection from nature. During the industrial revolution, the process accelerated as traditional techniques that used natural dyes and looms were replaced by machines and dehumanizing the assembly lines. This shift created unsustainable, chemically infused garments, which can no longer recede back into the natural world. My woven works explore these shifts from traditional culture to postmodernism to unbridled globalism. 

In my most recent project, I question the textile industry by creating a series of cultural works that explore the idea of solastalgia, a term which describes the mental or existential distress caused by environmental change and living in an era of excess, constantly consuming and throwing away. According to my research, only 15% percent of the used clothing donated to thrift shops in the US is actually sold. The other 85% is sent to other countries, like Chile, where the majority goes into landfills in the desert, where it is buried or burned. The cycle of our ancient textile industry is broken from beginning to end. I am dedicated to researching and studying this industry further and to creating work that exposes and reflects the current situation of our broken system. 

-MINGA OPAZO