Ruderales – SANTIAGO RIAÑO

"Ruderales" Def. is a spanish term used in biology to refer to plants capable of growing in disturbed or human-modified environments, such as urban areas, ruins, or abandoned land.

Wall 1
20 slabs
27cm x 27cm

I think he,

once mentioned how the strongest plants were those that found their way toward the light at the end of the crack.

Those that grow beneath the asphalt and seem to pierce through it, no matter how cold and heavy that gray may be, or how infertile everything becomes beneath a vast mantle of decay.

What he might have forgotten to mention, perhaps, is that few of them ever bloom.

And in the end,

they are all called weeds.

ARRANGEMENT

The arrangement of the concrete pieces in the exhibition is not only for aesthetic reasons, it also engages in a symbolic connection with the way we impose structures and patterns on ourselves and on others. Grids may suggest an idea of order and regularity that appears useful, but they can also be interpreted as a form of control and limitation. In this sense, the rectilinear arrangement of the pieces seems to contradict the organic weeds displayed.

Wall 2
54 slabs
27cm x 27cm

CONCEPT

Ruderales is an exhibition conceived as a subtle act of revelation, portraying fragments of nature that are overlooked within the urban context. The selected images are imprinted onto concrete slabs using a technique that, during printing, generates a kind of veil, subtly fading the exposed fragment.

The dialogue between the soft, organic, and natural character of the image and the cold, gridded substrate of the concrete acts as a symbol of concealment and proposes a narrative in which what is hidden manages to come to light.

MEDIUM FORMAT WORKS
1.24m X 1.62m

Maleza I

Details

Maleza II

Details

THROUGH THE LENS AND
THE VIEWFINDER

The bodily gesture of leaning in and looking through a viewfinder or magnifying lens carries a significant weight in itself; in a way, it functions as a bow to the hidden miniature world, elevating and acknowledging its value.

MINIATURES
13cm X 13cm

LOOKING THROUGH

It is through this gesture that, in an instant, a curtain is drawn back, and we are immersed in the infinite world that had been patiently waiting to be discovered.

DIGITAL AND POLARIZED PIECE
1.24cm X 1.86cm

When the viewer moves the looking glass, different fragments of the image emerge through a process of polarization; yet the image can never be perceived in its entirety.

LARGE FORMAT WORKS

suggest that our reflection is made of multiple fragments where linearity and the organic coexist. The work challenges the idea of a single, fixed truth, proposing instead cycles and shifting facets, like those found in weeds. Through fragmentation, it invites the viewer to actively reconstruct the image and reflect on their own perception. These large concrete canvases are made out of cold-rolled steel, cut, arranged, and welded in the workshop.

1.24cm X 1.86cm

HERBARIUM ON FIQUE PAPER

This is a herbarium printed on fique paper, representing nine weeds common in Bogotá. None of them have names or an index, as weeds are not usually understood or classified in that way.

1.24cm X 1.86cm