Protocolos de Emergencia (Emergency Protocols)

2026

Protocolos de Emergencia is an installation of 23 masks presented at the XVII Premio Eugenio Mendoza, Sala Mendoza, Caracas. It starts from a fragmented archive of images of Venezuelan traditions such as the Diablos de Yare and the Giros de San Benito, used to train an AI model that distorts and mutates that memory instead of replicating it. Those forms are put in dialogue with the growth patterns of biological systems like fungi. Each mask combines 3D-printed ceramic and resin with hand-modeled clay, aluminum, silicone, fabric and paint, and appears as a vestige of a speculative civilization, a presence that looks back.

Photos by Jesús Briceño

Protocolos de Emergencia (Emergency Protocols), installation view, many small wall-mounted mask sculptures with varied glazes and long colored ribbons on a white gallery wall

Protocolos de Emergencia (Emergency Protocols), installation view, grid of dark textured mask sculptures with ribbon streamers on a white wall, blurred visitor walking past

Protocolos de Emergencia (Emergency Protocols), installation view, irregular ceramic-like masks in green, bronze, and black with purple and pink thread bundles on a white wall

Protocolos de Emergencia (Emergency Protocols), installation view, wall of small horned mask sculptures with colored ribbons, partial view of larger white and dark forms in foreground

Protocolos de Emergencia (Emergency Protocols), installation view, three glazed ceramic masks with horns and long teal, yellow, and purple ribbons on a white wall

Protocolos de Emergencia (Emergency Protocols), installation view, wide shot of many colorful glazed masks with ribbon fringe arranged across a white gallery wall

Protocolos de Emergencia (Emergency Protocols), installation view, seven abstract wall-mounted sculptures in brown and green glazes with pink, orange, and blue ribbons

Protocolos de Emergencia (Emergency Protocols), installation view, row of teal horned mask sculptures with red and yellow ribbons receding along a white wall, shallow depth of field

Protocolos de Emergencia (Emergency Protocols), installation view, scattered mask sculptures with ribbons on a white wall, motion-blurred figure crossing the frame

Protocolos de Emergencia (Emergency Protocols), installation view, three wall-mounted horned masks in teal, dark blue, and silver with long colored and sheer ribbons