Practice 60. (My Mangoes are my Bat)

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Digital C-Print, artist's frame

180 x 130 cm

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Pigments from mango on upcycled paper

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2020

 

 

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This installation entailing a large-scale photo and paintings made out of mango pigments reveal the invisible work of bats that pollinate many of the tropical fruits we eat. In Colombia where I am from, people name the heart the mango. Practice 60. (My Mangoes are my Bat) refers to Gabriel Orozco’s work “My Hands are My Heart”. My father and I hold a heart-shaped mango pointing out to the fact that over 500 plant species rely on bats to pollinate their flowers, including species of mango, banana, durian, guava and agave. Just like Orozco recognizes his hands as his heart through this work, I recognize that while mangos rely on bats to pollinate their flowers, bats also rely on our care of their environment for their survival.

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