Paila-Repaila

Paila-Repaila grew out of an urban scene in Cali. The heat in the street was intense, and I imagined the corner as a huge frying pan, with the traffic light becoming its handle. At the time, around ten years ago, I was going through a period without sales. A friend who was then struggling with alcohol would often visit me; today he is responsible and in recovery. In that combination of extreme heat and personal stress, it felt as if we were melting. I often draw on oral tradition and popular sayings, and Paila-Repaila became the right title—roughly, ‘screwed and totally screwed.’ When I develop a concept, I like to animalize objects and devices, giving them legs, hands or typography. There is also a U.S. Navy reference in the work with another story of its own.