Estufa-Adelfa (Oleander Stove)

Elena Blasco here explores an approach to the object that is free from prejudice, whose uninhibited action emphasises the artistic fact of disparate union. Her main hallmark is the carefree, unorthodox approach she takes to her art. Blasco has eliminated the boundaries between di!erent media and disciplines so as to move naturally from the pictorial surface to three dimensions. She is also an exponent of an early, independent feminist perspective. Asked about the origins of her approach to sculpture she replied: ‘When I set out to paint pictures, I knew precisely what the result would be, the picture I was going to paint [...]. That was, in fact, the reason why I became interested in sculpture, or rather, the reason why I started making objects. Because there, I had no idea what might happen.’
Estufa-Adelfa combines two objects that are foreign to each other, yet absolutely commonplace. The pairing expresses a symbolic domestic friction between opposites: the bondage and oppression between the feminine and the handcrafted (represented in the clay pot), and the masculine and industrial (expressed in the heater, which Blasco identifies with virile, paternal roots). This piece formed part of the solo show Al deseo: Lo meneo, y que más da no entender (To Desire: I Shake It, and What Does It Matter not to Understand?, 1991). It represents how ‘interiors bind or give rise to the binding of such dissimilar things’ as the ultimate example of oppression.

Carmen Fernández Aparicio