At some point between the shift in temperature when we start to slowly do away with coats and sweaters, and dust begins to pick up, it can seem like entering into a new altered world by which we slowly have to adjust to. Some point between this shift we made some time to visit artist, Pablo Javier Castillo Huerta in his now former studio as he was in the middle of transiting out of his studio.“Sorry for all the junk on the floor. I moved a bunch of my books out so I have less junk now than I did yesterday, but I’m just in the middle of moving out of the studio” Huerta modestly explains as we make our way into his studio.  For Huerta, his studio is not just used as a working space but one for thinking through concepts that come up in his work. With roots in Guatemala, and being first generation Canadian, Huerta is conscious about movement as the ever-present constant not just in his and his family's lives but objects in a given space. Talking points that keep resurfacing in his work are these ideas of transition and change which is rather apt as he was in a middle of relocating at the time of our visit.  We talk about his interest in the transitory nature of human interaction within its environment, the temporary nature of the resources we utilize in protecting ourselves, notions of poverty and immigration among other topics.

 

 

 

:huerta

 

" I [am] really interested in how resourceful people are when facing poverty or any other kind of difficulties. They can be so resourceful, like using anything they find, to make something out of nothing. This is partially why I use all these cheap, thrown out, non-precious, non-threating, and approachable materials to build my shelters. It also makes for less of a barrier for people to interact with the work."

 

 

Luther Konadu: Do you spend much of your time working/or making the work in the studio?

   

Pablo Javier Castillo Huerta: Yeah I do, but there isn’t much room in here to make most of the work I’m making, so I also work down in the wood shop.

 

LK: Yeah I figured because your pieces are fairly huge.

 

PJCH: Yeah, I do build my initial structures in here. But a lot of my projects are temporary. I deal with temporary shelters so they are built up quickly in here and torn down just as fast. So some of the structures I’ve had to build and tear down 3 or 4 times for different showings and installation setups.

 

 

LK: Would you say the site for your installations are part of your studio space as well?  

 

PJCH: Yeah in a way. I do site-specific installations as well. I actually have a sculpture by the river (Red River) right now. It might have been washed away when the river was a bit higher, I’m not sure. That was a shelter made mostly out of drift wood.

 

LK: So you use pre-existing materials in nature?

 

PJCH: Yeah a little bit of both; I like to use tarps in a lot in my work which is pretty readily available for most people. I also use nails and some other bought materials, but I do like to use mainly found materials.

 

 

 

 

 

LK: Talk about the piece by the river. What materials went into that?

 

PJCH: I made a frame, which I built in the wood shop and then took it to a spot by the river and from there just used whatever I could find in the area to build it up. (driftwood, twigs, leaves, etc.)

 

LK: So you were responding to the area to make the sculpture?

PJCH: Yeah, I chose that specific location and just worked around it. I’m not sure I’ll keep building stuff there because I’ve already done several projects at that spot. But I guess I’m interested in how nature affects objects or ideas when they are put under certain circumstances. A lot of my projects have been time-based like that and will change depending on where they are installed. 

 

LK: The environment completes the piece in a way…

 

PJCH: Yeah. I am also interested in identity, situating myself where I am now and where I have come from. The Canadian landscape, specifically, Winnipeg’s landscape affects my work greatly.

 

LK: So your studio would be the space for thinking through your ideas, sketching and planning what you want to potentially do?

 

PJCH: Yeah, a little bit. I do like to think through building so I make maquettes and small projects (as well as drawings) that sort of reflect the temporary nature of my bigger projects. But I do spend a lot of time thinking in here. When I’ve thought out all my ideas then I’ll start working on them and obviously things change after that.

 

 

"...I’m constantly thinking of things being in a flux or in transition. I talk a lot about immigration in my work and I think about life as a constant movement. You can never really be in one place for too long; even when you set roots somewhere, you can be uprooted just as easily."

 

 

LK: Could you talk a bit about your interest in using concrete?

 

PJCH: A lot of it is just borrowing certain techniques that I’ve seen or been exposed to in Guatemala, which is where my family is from. So basically what I’ve been doing is making a small version of a wall and what they do is lay shards of glass in concrete on top of the walls as a way of protecting their homes and keeping unwanted people out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LK: Those pieces looked especially familiar to me because my family is from Ghana and there are lot of concrete walls with the glass shards on top or sometimes you would see barbed wire as way of protecting your home. And it’s funny how our families come from opposites sides of the world but there’s that detail we share.

                                                                        PJCH: Yeah exactly, I guess that’s what most “third world” countries face just because of what colonization and all these other things have done to the country itself. So that also plays into my work; looking at the current state of people in certain areas of the world. I’m glad you connected with that because it’s not just a Guatemalan thing or a Central/South American thing.

 

LK: It’s interesting the coping mechanisms people adapt over time to deal with their current state.

 

PJCH: The main thing I was really interested in was how resourceful people are when facing poverty or any other kind of difficulties. They can be so resourceful, like using anything they find, to make something out of nothing. This is partially why I use all these cheap, thrown out, non-precious, non-threating and approachable materials to build my shelters. It also makes for less of a barrier for people to interact with the work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

LK: There’s also a sense of fragility attached to the fact that one is building this thing for protection and you are depending on it for survival in a way but it’s made from what you can find, so it’s not completely stable because at any moment it’s going to rain and the wind might carry it away.

 

 

PJCH: Yeah for sure. And that speaks to the temporary nature of my installations. The main thing driving my work is family’s journey here, so I’m constantly thinking of things being in a flux or in transition. I talk a lot about immigration in my work and I think about life as a constant movement. You can never really be in one place for too long; even when you set roots somewhere, you can be uprooted just as easily.

 

LK: The River as this ever-flowing symbol definitely ties it together nicely.

 

PJCH: Thanks! I think a place like Winnipeg is like that too. It’s always been a pit stop for people moving out West in Canada. People are constantly moving through Winnipeg. They stop in the prairies and then continue on.

 

LK: I think you have been effective in balancing all these topics of interests and talking about them through your installations and sculptures. Has it always been smooth sailing articulating what you want to express?

 

PJCH: I struggled with that a lot earlier on. Talking about where you are from or your culture is like the easiest thing for one to do, especially if you are from somewhere else. But then how to approach it effectively wasn’t so easy. After some time, and growing up more, instead of being frustrated with it, I’ve come to terms with it. I think that made me have a more stable approach to saying what I wanted to say. I feel more comfortable with talking about my culture now. I felt at first I wasn’t doing it justice and now that I’m a bit more informed and have a better understanding of things I can communicate it properly.