Minerva Cuevas
Deshielo del Izta [Thawing of Izta], 2007
Minerva Cuevas (1975)
Deshielo del Izta [Thawing of Izta], 2007
Ice sculpture, iron table, glass carafe, two black-and-white photographs on aluminum and text
Sculpt: 50 x 150 x 50 cm
Table: 88 x 150 x 70 cm
Carafe: 35 x 23 diameter cm
Photos: 55 x 80 x 1.8 cm each

Minerva Cuevas questions the world economic system and denounces its consequences at a social and ecological level. Her projects span a wide range of media –painting, video, photography, sculpture, and installation—and combine research in fields as diverse as anthropology, history, product design, and economics. Cuevas addresses the negative impact humans have on animals and the environment. Deshielo del Izta presents an ice sculpture in the shape of the Iztaccíhuatl volcano that proceeds to slowly melt from the opening onwards. The sleeping woman, as the volcano is often referred to, ends up becoming a puddle of water on the iron table, which remains the rest of the exhibition. When the artist created this piece in 2007, the glaciers of volcanoes in Mexico were already under threat and experts warned that they could soon disappear. Today, factors such as climate change, deforestation, land use change and uncontrolled tourism have accelerated their decline, almost to the point of extinction.

Image: Courtesy of the artist and kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York