Alquimias Domésticas
Cati Bestard Rotger and Rocío Olivares Iriarte

Alquimias Domésticas presents works by Cati Bestard Rotger and Rocío Olivares Iriarte in dialogue around transformations of domestic devices, objects, and phenomena. The domestic here is understood as what is in our immediate surroundings, from the aspirational desire contained in the idea of a private swimming pool to the mundane gesture of single-use plastics that are consumed only for seconds. These series observe contemporary relationships with objects present in domestic and/or quotidian contexts, exploring the tension between beauty, error, and the intrinsic problems many of these objects unfold.

Transformation as a procedure is a resource Bestard and Olivares engage with to reveal their personal observations, including commentaries around consumption and the failure contained in these objects’ performance. At the same time, beauty plays a prominent role, complicating a monolithic stance. From Bestard’s inclusion of expired film as a pictorial resource in her instant film photographs to Olivares’ material selection of porcelain to reproduce PVC tubes and elbows, there is a search for visual pleasure.

About the Artists

Cati Bestard Rotger was born in Mallorca (Spain). She received her MFA from Columbia University in 2018. Her work has been exhibited at Ulterior Gallery, Times Square Space, Jewish Museum, Museu Palau Soterra, Crush Curatorial and Untitled Miami. She has been a resident at the Institute of Investigative Living (Joshua Tree, 2018), Hercules Art Studio Program (New York, 2019-2020), Art Workspace Easthampton (Easthampton, 2021) and Penumbra Foundation (New York, 2022). She currently teaches at Smith College.

For more information on Cati Bestard Rotger, visit website and follow her on Instagram.

Rocío Olivares Iriarte is a multidisciplinary artist born in Santiago de Chile in 1990 who received her BFA from Universidad Católica de Chile and her MFA at Columbia University. Her work has been shown at venues such as: Dilalica (Barcelona, Spain); The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (NY, USA), The Drawing Center (NY, USA); Museum of Moving Image (NY, USA); Sean Kelly Gallery (NY, USA); The Jewish Museum (NY, USA); Mana Contemporary (NJ, USA); Museo de Artes Visuales (Santiago, Chile), among others. Rocío was a resident at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2018) and part of the Whitney Independent Study Program for 2018-2019. She is currently based in Santiago, Chile where she works as an artist and as an educator.

For more information on Rocío Olivares Iriarte, visit website and follow her on Instagram.