Concrescence

Adrian Cornejo. Tucson, AZ. Queer. Mexican. MFA. Thanks for visiting, let me know what you think. [email protected]

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gravitational lensing - 2022 - Adrian Cornejo

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Suminagashi 65 - 2022 - Adrian Cornejo

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Suminagashi 63 - 2022 - Adrian Cornejo

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Elizabeth Rose Garden 20 - Adrian Cornejo - 2022

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Elizabeth Rose Garden 18 - Adrian Cornejo - 2022

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Elizabeth Rose Garden 17 - Adrian Cornejo - 2022

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Elizabeth Rose Garden 16 - Adrian Cornejo - 2022

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Elizabeth Rose Garden 13 - Adrian Cornejo - 2022

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Elizabeth Rose Garden 09 - Adrian Cornejo - 2022

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Elizabeth Rose Garden - Adrian Cornejo - 2022

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Elizabeth Rose Garden - Adrian Cornejo - 2022

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Elizabeth Rose Garden 04 - Adrian Cornejo - 2022

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Elizabeth Rose Garden 01 - Adrian Cornejo - 2022

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Carbon Bodies (Human Lapidary) - 2021 - Adrian Cornejo Carbon Bodies (Human Lapidary) is a sculptural installation consisting of a table that is covered in chunks of wood charcoal that have been cleaned, cut, and polished to resemble gemstones. The work is an exploration of the relationship that people have with the various cultures to which they are exposed. Of focus is the way in which our exposure to cultural concepts, standards, and aesthetics causes us to change or create ourselves, and how these changes hold a certain value.

The use of the term “lapidary” in this work is a reference to the process of cutting and polishing gemstones, which is essentially a process in which natural objects are transformed and given value based on various sets of aesthetics. I want to draw parallels between the lapidary process and the way in which people are taught to alter their bodies, thoughts, and beliefs to adhere to cultural standards. Transformation towards these aesthetics raises a person’s social capital for example: seeking to conform to proper height-weight proportions, wearing clothing that represents current conventions and that align with your perceived gender, desiring to accumulate wealth, acquiring advanced educational degrees, pursuing a heterosexual and monogamous relationship, displaying proper religious and political beliefs.

With this theme of transformation in mind, I want viewers to walk away from this work reflecting on who and what they are as social beings and how they are influenced by the intersection of their communities, cultures, belief structures. I want viewers to bring into question their doings, makings, words, and thoughts, who and what their influences are, and who benefits from their uncritical pursuit of social norms.

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Clean Room - 2020 - Adrian Cornejo

This is a piece I created while in residence with the Institute for LGBT Studies at the University of Arizona. 

A cleanroom is a specialized environment used in the production of sensitive hardware and for scientific research. They are designed to keep airborne particles at an extremely low level so to not interfere with any manufacturing processes. My interest in cleanrooms began when lockdown/quarantine/social distancing directives were being executed in America due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Though a cleanroom may not necessarily be a sterile space, free of microbes, it became a visual representation of the exaggerated conclusions my anxiety led me to, of me living in a clean room out of fear of becoming sick. A cleanroom represents, for me, an extreme form of isolation. A space, within a room, within a building, keeping away all of outside.

To enforce this, “Clean Room” was created as a ceiling to floor column with only 4 square feet of area in which to stand. It appears as a column and indeed functions as a sort of support structure, albeit for emotional means. However, within this space lies a duality inherent to a cleanroom and isolation as a concept: this is a fragile state and requires much effort to maintain. One cannot stray from the standards required to maintain these environments. Its constricting. You become trapped. Making this piece was a way for me to confront my own paranoia about contracting COVID-19 as well as a means of coping with quarantine directives. Perhaps this piece can do the same for someone else.

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An Angel - 2020 - Adrian Cornejo 

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Lint 35 - 2020 - Adrian Cornejo