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Javier Orfon

Installations

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Desembocadura (2017),
Found objects, permanent ink on stones and coral fragments,
variable dimensions
( Collection Museum of Contemporary Art of Puerto Rico)

Desembocadura (2017)

Desembocadura (2017)

Table I . ink on coral stones and founded materials . variables dimensions

Desembocadura (2017)

Desembocadura (2017)

Table I . ink on coral stones and founded materials . variables dimensions

Desembocadura (2017)

Desembocadura (2017)

Table I (detail) . ink on coral stones and founded materials . variables dimensions

Desembocadura (2017)

Desembocadura (2017)

Table I (detail) . ink on coral stones and founded materials . variables dimensions

Desembocadura (2017)

Desembocadura (2017)

Table I (detail) . ink on coral stones and founded materials . variables dimensions

Desembocadura (2017)

Desembocadura (2017)

Table I (detail) . ink on coral stones and founded materials . variables dimensions

Desembocadura (2017)

Desembocadura (2017)

Table I (detail) . ink on coral stones and founded materials . variables dimensions

Desembocadura (2017)

Desembocadura (2017)

Table I (detail) . ink on coral stones and founded materials . variables dimensions

Desembocadura (2017)

Desembocadura (2017)

Table I (detail) . ink on coral stones and founded materials . variables dimensions

Extramuros (2017-2018),
Found objects and ink on stones,
variable dimensions

Pozuelo (2017-2018)

Found objects and permanent ink on coral fragments.

variable dimensions

Tratado de Muchas Cuevas (2019)
Caribbean ancestral pottery and found objects
Variable dimensions

Diamante Azul (2020)

Caribbean ancestral pottery, white quartz, and

broken suns (decor-blocks)

Variable Dimensions

Bientevèo (2018-2022) Edition of Three

digital print on watercolor paper

96" x 197"

Whitney Museum of American Art Permanent Collection (1/3)

This work has been exhibited in No existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican art in the wake of hurricane María’ curated by Marcela Guerrero, Whitney Museum of American Art, November 23, 2022- April 23, 2023.

Bientevéo (vireo latimeri) is an endemic bird whose habitat is in the occidental zone of the main island of the Puerto Rican archipelago. ‘Bien-te-veo’ is a compound Spanish word which literally means ‘I see you well’. This is the title of a series of photographs that present my experiences at the Guajataca forest in the northwest of Puerto Rico. The geological characteristic of this forest is due to its location within a karst landscape. Water drains from the soil at such a fast speed that the forest looks dry, although it has an annual precipitation of 75”.

I studied the history of the natural reserve, talked and walked with the people that protect this environment and observed the flora and fauna of this specific site. The work consists of a constellation of photographs, two of which are large scale images: a giant Puerto Rican bromeliad (wittmackia antillana) and bejuco colorado (neorudolphia volubilis) endemic plants of my islands. The other photos document a series of drawings that I created using cupey tree leaves (clusea rasea) –that abound in the paths of the forest– as support. All these drawings represent my experiences as I traversed the forest .

This work is part of the permanent collection of Whitney Museum of American Art.

Photography: Marcela Guerrero

Losing My Face in the Lake (2022)

found objects, digital print, ceramic and performance

variable dimensions

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2022)

Losing My Face in The Lake (2022)

Lápida (2024)

Found objects and liquid paper corrector on granite stone

42" x 55" x 7 1/2"

Mona Island is located in the extreme west of the Puerto Rican archipelago. A natural reserve where the ghosts of prehistory and history coexist between precarity in the middle of the sea. The colonizations and the military extracted this environment and look like a giant grave or sponge full of caves and big limestone windows. Inspired by the poem Amona (the Caribbean indigenous original name) (ToMoNa), I created a concrete poem using liquid paper on found granite polished stones. Through writings and drawings, I present my experiences walking and studying this zone, an Antillean jewel.

La presencia del rastro (The Presence of Trace) (2024- 2025).

metal, mud removers for boots, ceramics, performances

Variable dimensions

Guabairo's Astrolabe (2023-2025)

Digital print and telescope equipment

variable dimensions

Ten thousand histories of stone (2022- Present)

stones, carved stones, glass, book, notebook, digital prints and found objects

Variable Dimensions

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