david cata sews portraits of his family into the palm of his hand
david cata sews portraits of his family into the palm of his hand
all images courtesy of david catá

 

 

 

following a hat-tip from one of our readers who commented on our popular feature of eliza bennett’s self-inflicted sculpture, designboom was led to the work of spanish artist david catá who also uses his body as a canvas for writing an autobiographical diary. the performance cum-sculptural self-inflicted pieces that make up the series ‘a flor de piel’ are portraits of the faces of people who have left their mark on the artist’s life — family, friends, partners and teachers — sewn into the palm of his hand. ‘their lives have been interwoven with mine to build my history’ catá says, ‘every moment lived stays in the memory to finally be forgotten. somehow, this fact is painful, since there are only material things and traces that people leave behind.’ the woven flesh work establishes a symbiosis between union, separation, pain and love — a performatic and symbolic action of loss, and preserves the memories through memorial, corporal and videographic footprints.

 

watch the video below to see catá at work, stitching his hand with the portraits of his loved ones:

 

 


mi vida a flor de piel
video courtesy of david catá

 

 

david cata sews portraits of his family into the palm of his hand
mi vida a flor de piel, 2013

 

 

david cata sews portraits of his family into the palm of his hand
‘mi novia tamara’

 

 

david cata sews portraits of his family into the palm of his hand
‘mi primer profesor de fotografia, manuel sendon’

 

 

david cata sews portraits of his family into the palm of his hand
‘mi prima anita’

 

 

david cata sews portraits of his family into the palm of his hand
‘mi hermano javi’

 

 

david cata sews portraits of his family into the palm of his hand
‘abuelo cata’

 

 

david cata sews portraits of his family into the palm of his hand
‘mi profesor de aceordeon, lino’

 

 

david cata sews portraits of his family into the palm of his hand
‘mi prima maria’

 

 


a flor de piel, abuelo raimundo
video courtesy of david catá

 

 

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full article here