Quisiera Estar Allí Contigo, SS26, in El Salvador

Quisiera Estar Allí Contigo, SS26

Participatory work | Canvas, marker, and collective writing

Recently, Quisiera Estar Allí Contigo, SS26 opened in El Salvador as part of a collaborative exhibition. Although I could not be physically present for the opening, the work itself emerged precisely from that impossibility.

The piece began with a simple but difficult truth: I wanted to be there, and I could not.

From that absence came an invitation.

At the center of the installation is a blank canvas that visitors are invited to intervene with by writing the name of someone they wish could be present with them, along with the date. As the exhibition unfolds, the canvas slowly transforms into a living archive of longing, memory, affection, and connection.

Some names belong to people who live far away. Others belong to those who could not attend. Some belong to people who are no longer alive. The work does not distinguish between these forms of absence. Instead, it holds them together with equal tenderness, allowing each participant to momentarily bring someone into presence through the act of naming.

What interests me deeply about this gesture is its simplicity. Writing a name is small, almost fragile, yet it carries enormous emotional weight. A single inscription becomes evidence of attachment, memory, grief, care, and desire. The canvas becomes populated not by bodies, but by relationships.

As more names accumulate, the piece evolves into a collective emotional landscape — a constellation of people carried across geography, time, and even death through acts of remembrance. The work does not attempt to resolve absence or erase distance. Rather, it makes visible the ways we continue loving across impossibility.

Seeing the canvas fill during the opening was profoundly moving. What began as my own inability to be present expanded into a shared space where others could articulate their own forms of longing and connection. The work now belongs as much to the participants as it does to me.

These images, from the opening night and the evolving canvas, document only part of the piece. The true work exists in the accumulation of gestures, in the names written by strangers, and in the invisible relationships those names carry with them.

Quisiera Estar Allí Contigo, SS26 continues to grow throughout the exhibition, sustained entirely through participation.

Thank you to everyone who has made someone present through this work.

Exhibition information 

Expográfica Línea Incidente

Reception Thursday, April 30, 2026, at 6:00 pm

Sala Nacional de Exposiciones Salarrué

6ª y 10ª Cl. Pte. y Parque Cuscatlán, 25 Avenida Sur 

San Salvador, El Salvador

Línea Disidente Exhibition, El Salvador

Expográfica Línea Disidente at the Sala Nacional de Exposiciones Salarrué in San Salvador, El Salvador

I am delighted to announce that my artwork, Colgando Entre Hilos y Palabras (Hanging Between Threads and Words) 2024, is part of the exhibition Línea Disidente in El Salvador. Exhibition organized by i:Taller

Short guided tour conducted by Mtra. Alejandra Cabezas, through some of the works of Línea Disidente, at the Salarrué National Exhibition Hall during the opening ceremony on January 24, 2025.

Article by Diario El Salvador, "La reinvención del dibujo, en la Sala Salarrué"

 

Colgando Entre Hilos y Palabras, 2024

by Nadia Martínez

Fabric, paper, graphite, thread, frayed sweater, and gauze.

78 3/4 x 58 inches (2.00 x 1.50 meters)

"Suspended Between Threads and Words" addresses the universal themes of grief, emotional numbness, and healing from an intimate and reflective perspective. Presented as a personal letter, I invite the viewer to join me in a process of letting go and untangling memories and emotions while redefining the meaning and purpose of my experience. The thread, a central element in this work, acts as a unifying symbol. It functions as a line of connection that intertwines the pieces, just like the illegible writing in the composition. This resource underscores the complexity of navigating grief and finding healing. 

Some of the selected materials have a deeply symbolic character. I use impulsive purchases as a representation of emotional distractions that offer temporary relief from sadness and pain. A notable example is the thread recovered from a compulsively acquired sweater, which was undone and reused.    This gesture of transforming the discarded into something new embodies acceptance and the creative potential that arises from letting go. 

The loose threads and letters in the work reflect my awareness of my emotional patterns and my process of detachment as I traverse the path to healing. In this narrative, immediate gratification is contrasted with delayed gratification, suggesting that patience and effort lead to deeper and more lasting healing. 

The technique employed in this work combines elements of sewing, layering, and writing. I use threads of different textures and colors to create a visually tactile composition. Machine stitching, in some places, reinforces the connections; in others, it is an interrupted process, with short stitches that begin and end without knots, emphasizing the fragility and ephemerality of instant satisfaction to express my emotions tangibly. 

The panels are letters and texts written by hand on fabric. These written elements, although illegible, add a dimension of intimacy and personalization, inviting the viewer to interpret and connect with the narrative individually. The combination of these techniques not only enriches the work visually but also reinforces the central theme of healing through creation and transformation. Each stitch and fragment of text contribute to the construction of a complex and multifaceted narrative about grief and recovery. This piece invites us not only to observe but also to reflect on our own cycles of grief, distraction, and healing and the possibility of finding beauty and meaning in what remains after loss.