Doris Salcedo is a Colombian artist whose work examines the impact of loss and grief through the lens of civil conflict. Salcedo serves as secondary witness to the devastating effects of war through dialogue with survivors of political violence. Employing recognizable objects such as chairs, clothing, and tables, Salcedo’s sculptures offer poetic translations of the experiences of those who have suffered harm. In the Tabula Rasa series, several examples of which are in Glenstone’s collection, Salcedo splinters wood tables and painstakingly puts them back together in tribute to women traumatized by sexual violence in the context of war. At first glance, the reconstructed tables present themselves as whole. Closer inspection reveals a surface covered in fissures and scars.

–Sophia Figueroa, from the Glenstone Field Guide