Mind´s Constructions de Raquel Algaba

Raquel Algaba has a degree in Fine Arts from the UCM in Madrid and a Master’s in Art from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Seville. His work has been exhibited at the Barjola Museum in Gijón, at the CEART in Fuenlabrada or at the Neomudéjar in Madrid, among others. She has recently been awarded the second prize Art Nálón Artes Plásticas, Langreo, Asturias.

For Mind’s Constructions, her latest exhibition, Raquel told me that the game Go inspired her, which she discovered during her stay in Japan. Although it may be considered a strategy game such as Chess, as the artist says “this game would not confront a man against another man as much as man against himself”. Because, due to its lack of fixed structures, it turns out that Go can be far more complex than Chess. Due to its “vacuity”, if I may add. With more than 4.000 years of history that date back to Ancient China, the game was brought to Japan by Buddhist monks.

The work of Raquel Algaba also invites us to observe those “identical” stones as parts of a whole. I couldn’t avoid but to relate my experience, her work and the game of Go. The artist had been searching for some time how to transfer her thoughts onto the paper through drawing. Through the rich poetics of this popular Oriental game, she found the motivation to create this valuable ensemble of works in paper and ceramics.