Beneath the frescoes of the Royal Monastery of Santa Clara de Toro (Zamora), the signature of Teresa Díez appears inscribed: «TERESA DIEÇ ME FECIT». Author or possible patron of one of the scarce murals from the Spanish Gothic period (14th century) signed by a woman, and dedicated, in this case, to the effigy of Saint Catherine of Alexandria. The blessed woman whose «golden legend» recounts how in her martyrdom she dismantled a toothed wheel with her own faith, before being beheaded by the emperor Maxentius (306-312).
The artist Susana Guerrero, in collaboration with filmmakers Mario-Paul Martínez and Vicente J. Pérez, recovers the work of this enigmatic figure of sacred art, as well as her interpretation of the martyrdom of Saint Catherine, in a project that combines audiovisual media and sculptural installation. On one hand, featuring a documentary short film that addresses Guerrero's trajectory and the mythological and cultural imaginaries that link her to these important figures in Art History. And, on the other hand, featuring a series of sculptural installations created by Susana Guerrero herself, as a result of these investigations into Saint Catherine and Díez (and that connection between centuries and women artists that is being researched).
The documentary Guerrero. The Head in Her Hands, follows the creative processes of these and other works by the artist. Accompanying her in her own work studio (Elche), in the foundry and welding workshops of the Faculty of Fine Arts (Altea), or in the terrains where she collects materials, while also reflecting on her own work: how her stays in Greece and Mexico opened her eyes to the importance of myths and popular traditions; how rituals play an essential part in her artistic processes; or how working with the everyday constitutes an «anthropology of experience», key to approaching her work. Accompanying her in these reflections will be art critic and member of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language, Joaquín Badajoz (Cuba/New York), the director of 532 Gallery, Thomas Jaeckel (New York), and the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Alicante (Alicante), Rosa María Castells.
The sculptural pieces that accompany and are exhibited alongside this video speak to us of the severed body of Saint Catherine, rewriting it as a beheaded woman who survives her decapitation. A reconstruction of her body through her legend, her attributes and her martyrdoms, translated poetically and symbolically into metal structures embroidered with agave leaves, in enameled ceramics and flesh made of braided cables: an «object of faith» with which to invoke the power of this sacred figure.
