Ghost Wheel, 2005
by Maximilliano Pruneda
(b. 1948), Mexican
wood base, fabric, pigment, metal adornments
23" tall x 15" wide x 8" deep
"I have an ardent interest in images that allude to processes of ritual, places of conjuring, otherness, healing and the invisible. I seek to provide a visual dialogue that hints at these interests. I present for contemplation imagery that conveys a muffled and haunted aura, with aspects of our primordial nature. Additionally, these images imply the human interaction in sustaining the world. Transformation through ritual is a continuing theme, which permeates my perception that object and image transcend aesthetics.
I find native imagery a fascinating springboard for my work. Tribal representations often codify the existence of the visible, as well as the invisible, world. They serve as evidence of interactions with, and the desire to control, the potent realm of the unseen. With perhaps idealized speculation, I imagine past clans with a greater balance between the earth, the unknown and man. My work is an attempt to define that balance for myself. I create images to pose a question or provoke thought about spiritual striving within our primal self.
My imagery serves as reliquaries for the mysterious; to give reverence to sacred feelings. To some extent my work is about memory, not necessarily from reality, but more about possibilities--what could have been or what can be. I strive to empower my imagery by imbuing it with open-ended qualities, creating a stir of intrigue and psychic disturbance in the viewer. I feel that I accomplish this by putting forth presences that are simultaneously the viewer and the viewed."
- Maximilliano Pruneda, 2005
