OF NAIVE AMERICA: CLAY AND LOGBOOK
The work of Samuel Sarmiento functions as both a historical record and an exercise in contemporary imagination and fiction. Much like the ancient travel logs that circulated images of exotic animals—some exaggerated and others based purely on descriptions—Sarmiento revives the tradition of "mediated observation." Examples of this include the famous rhinoceros by Albrecht Dürer (1515) or the human-featured lions of Hans Baldung (1520), where elephants and giraffes were depicted as creatures from distant, mythical worlds.
Today, Samuel Sarmiento presents his own collection of birds, turtles, and caimans. In his work, macaws and troupials visit us reinterpreted by his brushstroke, transforming into time capsules that bridge the gap between myth and reality.