A few days ago, classes started again at the university, and for those who don't know, I'm studying Visual Arts. As usual, the first few days are quite fast-paced and simple, basically for getting to know each other and forming bonds of camaraderie. That's how our professor, on this occasion, invited us to visit one of the city's galleries, where the thesis work of one of the faculty's graduates was on display.

To my surprise, I had already seen this exhibition at the faculty. Feeling it would be a bit boring since I was already familiar with it, the reality was quite the opposite. To my greater surprise, this time, the artist herself would be leading our tour.

Generally, artworks are open to the public's free interpretation; everyone gives them their own meaning. Having the artist present while observing the work is a great advantage, as you gain a deeper understanding of the motivations and inspirations she had when creating it. However, this work doesn't force you to observe one specific thing. Even with the artist talking about her entire creative process and her thoughts and ideas about what she wanted to convey, it also leaves ample blank space for you, as a spectator, to discuss the curiosities you find within it.

The work is titled "Pa(i)sajes del alma. Entre la memoria y el olvido" (Soulscapes. Between Memory and Forgetting), alluding to memories as if they were a landscape you observe from afar, but also a passage that leads you to relive that moment. This idea isn't far-fetched; we are certainly distanced by years from what we experienced in the past. But why a landscape? Well, in some way, memories are glimpsed amidst the beautiful, the nostalgic, the pleasant, and the distant, just like observing a landscape.

Upon starting the tour, we immediately noticed that the work is divided into other smaller pieces, which, by themselves, distinctly and uniquely convey their own interpretation of what memory and forgetting mean. As we moved through the room, we encountered a new conception of this idea. Our support came from the artist's own words, which drew us into these ideas.

The first piece we encountered consisted of small fragments of what appeared to be mountains, constructed with only lines, smudges, and shadows, hanging from the ceiling with transparent thread, giving the sensation of floating, unevenly positioned at different heights, distances, and sizes, just like we find in the various forms of any mountain. In that sense, we connect with memory, with the act of recalling moments that sometimes arrive clear or blurry, making them as ambiguous as the composition of this first work.

Successively, we found different ideas or perspectives that delve into the same point, as if different personalities were offering their opinions on the act of remembering.

What's peculiar about the complete work itself is that the restrictions we generally find in any gallery, like "maintain distance" and "do not touch," are completely overridden here. It urges you to immerse yourself in it, inviting you to interact, making the spectator a participant in what is already constructed to finally give vividness or functionality to the interpretation of the idea. This, once again, aligns with the act of recalling a past moment, as to achieve this, each person must search their memory for that fact or event they wish to remember.

Personally, I find it quite a poetic work, but also peculiar because, in a nutshell, it makes you part of the piece, coming quite close to the conceptions of a performance.

I enjoyed it immensely this time; I truly got to know and interpret it in a way I couldn't during that first encounter at the faculty. For my part, I invite you to approach and experience this magnificent work in person at the gallery of the School of Music at the University of Los Andes (Mérida - Venezuela).