Ena Marrero: Sheer Lithium

Ena Marrero, Rodeo Lazo, 2010, wood, briquettes, rope, and stockings. Installation (13 pieces). Variable Dimensions. Courtesy of the artist and Hardcore Art Contemporary Space.

By Carolina Márquez

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living; it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.

-Dr. Seuss (1904-1991)

To step into Ena Marrero’s world is to enter a world that has come full circle. Hers is a universe that delicately retraces object’s origin, creating a contemplative niche in which one can retreat from the excess of modern society. Marrero’s most recent exhibition,”Sheer Lithium” at Hardcore Art Contemporary Space, consists of multimedia works from 2005 to the present, including the piece Rodeo Lazo, a forest-like installation made of coal briquettes, pinewood, and rope. The piece is a mesmerizing testament to reverse metamorphosis. The artist retraces and venerates the process of life, a theme inherent in her artistic oeuvre. “My vision and strength evolve from nature,” Marrero explains. “My challenge is to find and establish an original physical dialogue between form and dimension, discover possibilities, and create a composition with substance.” Yet her interest goes beyond establishing a dialogue between material and subject matter; her work also addresses issues of social consciousness. The coal briquettes that the artist has become well known for using are all made of coal powder and natural by-products, the wood is untreated, and the rope is made of raw fiber. The cyclical nature of her work is undeniable, though not overt. The structures of Rodeo Lazo are made of petrified carbon, the detritus of organic matter, to which the artist has given new life. The ropes that hold the pieces together, suggestive of roots, give them a sense of upward mobility, thus elevating them from rather than anchoring them to the earth.

Liquid Lithium by the Pound, 2010. From the series “Sheer Fear”, 2010, Antique iron, scale, briquettes, stockings. Installation. 27” x 16” x 14”.

The allure of Ena Marrero’s work is much like that of famed American author and illustrator Theodor Seuss Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss). The artist, whose interest in Seuss was admittedly sparked by her grandchildren, found not only a source of inspiration in but also an uncanny affinity with the microcosm of Seussville, which influenced her new works on canvas. True to her creative agenda, the canvas works resemble otherworldly coral formations, executed with organic fluidity and bright color palette, making them cartoon-like but not childlike. Both Marrero and Seuss possess the ability to view life “through the wrong end of a telescope”; their works, although different in content and form, are imbued with an optimism that translates not only in their imagery but also in their play with words. With titles like Light My Fire, an installation consisting of thirteen individual caged coals suspended from matches that penetrate their center, and “Sheer Lithium,” not only an homage to the energy source that is lithium but also a tongue-in-cheek nod to the effects of the substance (often used in the treatment of manic episodes) on the human body, Marrero synthesizes a visual formula both poignant and poetic that “wakes up the brain” and transports the viewer to a fantastical world rooted in modern-day realities.

“Sheer Lithium” was exhibited at Hardcore Art Contemporary Space, 3326 North Miami Avenue, Miami, FL 33127 (March 13-May 30, 2010).

Carolina Márquez is an art critic and writer based in Miami.