Salcedo’s interviews with displaced rural Colombian women forced out of their homes in search of safety resulted in the series La Casa Viuda. Doors without buildings, unmoored from their foundations, evoke the loss of home and lack of shelter that these families were forced to endure.
The title of the series, roughly translated as “the widowed house,” furthers this sense of loss and disruption to the domestic sphere. Embedded within or joining the pieces of furniture, one finds other material remnants that evoke the human presence: a child’s toy chair, human bone, and articles of clothing. Using a strategy employed throughout her work, Salcedo creates uncanny experiences out of the seemingly familiar. As such, the house is transformed into a space of mourning.
Wooden door, wooden chair, clothing, and thread
2213⁄16 x 23½ x 153⁄16 in. (57.8 x 59.7 x 38.7 cm)
Worcester Art Museum (MA), Gift of the Friends of Contemporary Art, 1994.241
Image © Worcester Art Museum
Wooden door, wooden chair, clothing, and thread
2213⁄16 x 23½ x 153⁄16 in. (57.8 x 59.7 x 38.7 cm)
Worcester Art Museum (MA), Gift of the Friends of Contemporary Art, 1994.241
Image © Worcester Art Museum
Wooden door, wooden cabinet, wood, steel, clothing, and bone
Four parts, overall: 102¼ x 31⅜ x 23¾ in. (259.7 x 79.7 x 60.3 cm)
Collection Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, gift from the Volunteer Committee Fund, 1997
Photo: Carlo Catenazzi
Wooden door, wooden cabinet, wood, steel, clothing, and bone
Four parts, overall: 102¼ x 31⅜ x 23¾ in. (259.7 x 79.7 x 60.3 cm)
Collection Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, gift from the Volunteer Committee Fund, 1997
Photo: Carlo Catenazzi
Wooden door, wooden cabinet, wood, steel, clothing, and bone
Four parts, overall: 102¼ x 31⅜ x 23¾ in. (259.7 x 79.7 x 60.3 cm)
Collection Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, gift from the Volunteer Committee Fund, 1997
Photo: Carlo Catenazzi
Wooden door, wooden cabinet, wood, steel, clothing, and bone
Four parts, overall: 102¼ x 31⅜ x 23¾ in. (259.7 x 79.7 x 60.3 cm)
Collection Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, gift from the Volunteer Committee Fund, 1997
Photo: Carlo Catenazzi
Wooden doors, wooden bed frame, and clothing
Two parts: 101¾ x 34 x 2⅜ in. (258.5 x 86.4 x 6 cm) and 32¾ x 34 x 2 in. (83.2 x 86.4 x 5.1 cm)
Private collection
Wooden doors, wooden bed frame, and clothing
Two parts: 101¾ x 34 x 2⅜ in. (258.5 x 86.4 x 6 cm) and 32¾ x 34 x 2 in. (83.2 x 86.4 x 5.1 cm)
Private collection
Wooden door, wooden bed frame, clothing, and bone
1025⁄16 x 18½ x 13 in. (259.9 x 47 x 33 cm)
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Committee on Painting and Sculpture Funds, Latin American and Caribbean Fund, and gift of Patricia Phelps de Cisneros
Wooden door, wooden bed frame, clothing, and bone
1025⁄16 x 18½ x 13 in. (259.9 x 47 x 33 cm)
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Committee on Painting and Sculpture Funds, Latin American and Caribbean Fund, and gift of Patricia Phelps de Cisneros
Wooden doors, steel chair, and bone
Three parts: 74⅞ x 39 x 18½ in. (190.2 x 99.1 x 47 cm); 62⅞ x 47 x 22 in. (159.7 x 119.3 x 55.8 cm); and 62½ x 38 x 18½ in. (158.7 x 96.5 x 46.9 cm)
Collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, gift of Shawn and Peter Leibowitz, New York, to American Friends of the Israel Museum
Photo: D. James Dee
Wooden doors, steel chair, and bone
Three parts: 74⅞ x 39 x 18½ in. (190.2 x 99.1 x 47 cm); 62⅞ x 47 x 22 in. (159.7 x 119.3 x 55.8 cm); and 62½ x 38 x 18½ in. (158.7 x 96.5 x 46.9 cm)
Collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, gift of Shawn and Peter Leibowitz, New York, to American Friends of the Israel Museum
Photo: D. James Dee