Suchitra Mattai b . Guyana 1973 ; works in Colorado , USA
El Dorado After All , 2017 Thread , faux fur , leather , zippers , cord , ribbon , pom-poms , chain on found woven seaweed rug Courtesy of the artist
Suchitra Mattai ’ s migratory paths through Guyana , Canada , and the United States inform her practice characterized by what she calls “ disconnected landscapes that are unreal but offer a lingering familiarity .”
In El Dorado After All , Mattai reimagines the mythical city of gold that ignited 16th century European explorations of South America . Drawing from a photograph hypothesizing the location of this lush world , Mattai renders “ El Dorado ” an idealized , imagined , abandoned , symbolic space . The work teems with texture , materiality and laborious detail . Mattai weaves onto a large-scale seaweed rug a bounty of objects and materials via processes that are hand-done and domestic — a nod to the women in her family who are experts in weaving , embroidering , needlepointing , and sewing . Mattai is concerned with the liminal space of disorientation when one transitions through multiple cultural spheres . It is important to note that she created this work while on a short-term stay in France . With each puncture of embroidery , each woven thread , Mattai attempts to de-center fixed ideas of history . “ By hand-embroidering this idealized ( and fictitious ) version of Guyana ,” she states , “ I am weaving together both personal and historical traces to create a mythical past . Like all myth , this past is part fiction and part truth .”