South Capitol Skyscape: Amber Robles-Gordon

November 10, 2014 – January 31, 2015Original artwork on display in Capitol Skyline Hotel Lounge October 29 – November 28, 2014

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South Capitol Skyscape: Amber Robles-Gordon, At the Altar: Dance of the Serpents, 2014.

About the Exhibition

WPA presents a new work by DC-based artist Amber Robles-Gordon as the second installation in its South Capitol Skyscape series. For the 50-foot banner on the South Capitol Street façade of the hotel, WPA has excerpted a portion of her work, entitled At the Altar: Dance of the Serpents. Created through the artist’s signature assemblage process combining textiles and found objects, the work takes new form using a recycled hammock as its support and foundation, representing the structural constructs of the past and the restrictive patterns of repetitive thinking.

Robles-Gordon began her At the Altar series in 2010 when she started creating installations in the form of an altar. This new work is essentially a visual extension of the artist’s personal altar.

Robles-Gordon has woven plastic snakes and sewn portions of recycled objects and elements through the structured columns of rope. The sewn fragments represent a global engagement for inner peace and a celebration and acknowledgement of cultural traditions. Hanging components represent the thought processes and constant motifs that appear in Robles-Gordon’s artwork: the use of color as well recycled textiles and fabrics. The snakes address the artist’s interest in Kundalini energy and–by extension–snakes and serpents. Robles-Gordon finds fascination in the physical and metaphoric representation of snakes and serpents throughout the world; especially in their positive and negative manifestations throughout multiple religions, cultures, and mythologies.

At the Altar: Dance of the Serpents conveys the artist’s awareness of both the positive and negative aspects of this energy and illuminates the balance that occurs at their intersection.

About the Artist

Amber Robles-Gordon (M.F.A., Howard University) is a Washington, DC-based mixed media artist whose preferred medium is collage and assemblage. Her work is representational of both her individual experiences and the paradoxes within the female experience. Robles-Gordon focuses on fusing found objects to convey her own personal memories inspired by nature, womanhood, and her belief in recycling energy and materials.

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About South Capitol Skyscape

Utilizing the unique and historic façade of the Capitol Skyline Hotel, South Capitol Skyscape presents a rotating series of oversize contemporary art installations, featuring the work of local artists. These commissioned works are intended to spark public discussion on art and culture and enrich the daily lives of the residents, workers, and car passengers who inhabit the world of the South Capitol Street Gateway corridor. Each of the South Capitol Skyscape artists will leads free community art making workshops in the neighborhood in conjunction with their project.

This project is made possible with the support of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ Public Art Building Communities Grant Program. Special thanks to the Capitol Skyline Hotel, Kimberly Mitchell and CDKM Consulting, and Eve Brooks/Community Benefits Coordinating Council.

Amber Robles-Gordon, At the Altar: Dance of the Serpents, 2014. Found objects and mixed media.

South Capitol Skyscape: Amber Robles-Gordon, 2014. 50’ x 16’ vinyl mesh. Image from Amber Robles-Gordon’s At the Altar: Dance of the Serpents, 2014.

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