This collection was born in 2019, during the COVID lockdown in Santiago, Chile. Trapped at home with only a few recycled materials available, Hope emerged — a reflection on the human capacity to endure, to move forward, and to transcend circumstances, even in the face of confinement and the uncertainty of a pandemic that had already claimed so many lives. The sculptures depict bodies altered from the outside, as if corroded by time or their surroundings, yet remaining in everyday or even gymnastic poses — as if unaware of what is happening, or perhaps because, despite everything, the human spirit naturally tends to go on living, sensing the transience of the threat. While working on them, I was reminded of the figures covered in ash in Pompeii — forever frozen during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. — traces suspended in time, witnesses to an extreme moment in humanity’s encounter with nature. The drawings, made with grease, leftover paints, varnishes, and remnants found in the studio, record that moment through the imprint — a human mark striving to transcend. The series consists of 40 mixed-media drawings on paper (31” x 48”, mounted on foam board) and 12 sculptures measuring approximately 5’ x 2’ x 1’. In both the sculptures and drawings, the use of fragile and makeshift materials speaks to our own vulnerability and the fleeting nature of existence — yet also to the resilience of the human spirit and its essential drive to transcend.