Vestigios del tiempo: la persistencia de la materia.
ART BO 2025 | Booth presentation with Armando Mesías and María Elena Pombo.

The booth by Sorondo Projects at ArtBo explores the transformation of materials over time and how objects shift in meaning depending on their context. It asks what materials reveal about us and our society. If future generations were to uncover these artworks, what would they understand about the materials we use and the time we live in. This art fair exhibition brings together works that reflect on these ideas, showing how decay, transformation and human presence leave traces in matter.

For this, Sorondo Projects presents the work of two artists, Armando Mesías and María Elena Pombo. Each of them approaches the idea of materiality and time in different ways, inviting us to consider the memory embedded in objects and what they reveal about our existence.

Armando Mesías (Cali, Colombia 1986) explores the fleeting nature of identity and the effect of time, memory and transformation on the self. His paintings and installations are shaped through a slow process of decay and intervention, allowing materials to wear down naturally while also introducing deliberate gestures. His practice balances control and entropy, reflecting on impermanence and the evolving nature of meaning. Currently based in Madrid, Mesías bridges classical techniques with contemporary explorations of time and materiality.

María Elena Pombo (Caracas, Venezuela 1988) engages with natural materials to create textile pieces and installations that reflect on identity and our relationship with the earth. She employs traditional techniques and organic matter, honoring ancestral knowledge while questioning modern material culture. Her works highlight the resilience and fragility of natural elements, emphasizing how materials carry history within them. Through her practice, she invites us to consider our place in the world and the narratives woven into the substances we use and discard.

Sorondo Projects booth at ArtBo will aim to be a space for reflection, where materials tell stories of time, transformation and belonging. By reinterpreting what is discarded, embracing the passage of time and reconnecting with nature, these works challenge us to rethink how we perceive materials and the traces we leave behind. This booth will be an invitation to engage with memory, change and the persistence of matter in shaping our collective history.