Untitled by Doris Salcedo

Doris Salcedo

1998

Wood, concrete, and metal

Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston

Since the mid-1980s, Doris Salcedo (Born 1958 in Bogotá, Colombia) has addressed the effects of criminal and political violence through sculptural works and installations that bear witness to death, loss, and pain. Collecting testimonies from individuals living in rural Colombia, she both honors the memory of lives lost and contemplates the frequently invisible nature of trauma. In many of her works, Salcedo employs an uncomfortable combination of domestic furniture and building materials such as concrete and steel. Instead of engaging the traditional methods of sculpture, such as carving or molding, she makes her work through acts