OCMA (Orange County Museum of Art)

Ximena Garrido-Lecca explores the impact of natural resource exploitation on different social groups and cultures, with a particular interest in how industrialization and urbanization have historically affected the relationship between nature and culture. For this exhibition, the artist investigates contemporary uses of silicon, the second most abundant element on Earth, after oxygen. Silicon is most commonly used today in the production of computer chips and solar panel technology. In this new body of work, Garrido-Lecca repurposes silicon scraps used to make computer chips and fragments from discarded solar panels into various forms, including a stained-glass window and vessels inspired by Pre-Columbian ceremonial ceramics. By connecting ancient ritualistic cultural practices, natural resources, science, and technology, Garrido-Lecca questions belief systems and the capitalist drive to produce new technologies.