Queen without a crown.
- After the artist Carmen Herrera
By Rocío Rodríguez
Carmen, Carmen
A friend I wish I had,
A queen without a crown.
Hard to imagine how a line can capture a life.
Hard to imagine how a life can be told through a line.
The geometric language can be cold,
Carmen’s work is bold but not cold.
Modernism left emotions aside,
Carmen took modernism and then put it aside,
Carmen’s work is not about geometry,
Carmen’s work is about Carmen’s own life.
Carmen’s work, is a self-portrait work,
Carmen’s work captures what it's like to be a queen without a crown.
Adios,
Adios, Carmen.
Adios amiga, I never met.
Adios, my favorite piece.
Adios, her legacy remains.
Adios.
_______
From the author:
“When I read about Carmen Herrera’s work knowing that she wanted to be an architect and she painted geometrical and minimalist artworks, I wasn’t excited. I thought it was very cliché. When I walked the exhibit for the first time (“I am nobody, Who are you? At SITE Santa Fe 2024), I cried standing in front of “Adios” piece. In that moment she became more than one of my favorite artists, she became an inspiration, someone I wished I have met in person. I understood how expressive a single line can be. A passionate abstraction and the most elegant self-portrait work I’ve seen.”
- Rocío Rodríguez