Felt and Concrete
In her recent body of work, India Aparicio explores the tactile dialogue between softness and rigidity by combining felt and concrete—materials that could not be more different in their physical and symbolic character. This series marks a return to felt, a medium deeply rooted in her personal and familial history. Traditionally associated with warmth, flexibility, and protection, felt becomes the starting point for a broader reflection on materiality, embodiment, and social codes.
The resulting images are sculptural yet flat, delicate yet confrontational. Through this tension, India Aparicio questions where softness ends and structure begins—inviting viewers to consider how bodies are held, constrained, or protected by the structures surrounding them. Her use of iconic forms—such as the hand or the banana—grounds these abstract explorations in cultural and gendered narratives, reframing the familiar as charged and ambiguous.