Amber Robles-Gordon

Wired

Mixed Media on Metal, Series, 2011

My intention was to create a body of work that allowed me to present a visual conversation between two elements: color and metal. Wire is defined as: “a long, thin piece of metal used to hang objects or to carry electricity or electronic communications from one place to another.”

Wire is a conductor of energy. I utilize color as energy. Energy that can affect ones behavior or well-being, possibly becoming wired with energy. I believe colors have both feminine and masculine energies and each color represents a specific aspect of nature. I desire these works to embody my spiritual connection to color, light as well as the need and importance of recycling of energy and resources. I juxtapose colorful feminine objects and materials, weaving them through grids, fences or other metal items, which I view as symbolically masculine. I interpret these items as masculine forms because they are made of metal and are traditionally used to delineate boundaries.

I aim to visually convey these specific social dynamics by symbolically weaving the colored materials and items through the metal forms. This is done as an attempt to visually transcend the implied social boundaries that the fences and grids represent. Conversely, I use these metal items as bases because they’re elementally sound and solid. Additionally, some of the works also have chicken wire arranged around the base metal object then the entire form has to be molded into a desired shape. Overall, my intention is to create works that attempt to visually parallel the social and gender inequalities that are manifested in our world due to the imbalances of feminine and masculine energies.