GOLEM

Juan Pablo Ferlat’s work “The Golem” is an interdisciplinary project exploring the relationship between environmental and culture mediated by materiality, which is central to Ferlat’s artistic practice. At its core of this work is the Golem, an anthropomorphic figure from Jewish folklore, traditionally formed from clay or mud. This symbolic being embodies contradictions, such as victim and villain or male and female, and reflects themes of war, isolation, hope, and despair.

Two of the Golem meanings are “raw material” or an “unfinished being,” which serves as a metaphor for Ferlat’s artistic process. Expressed through self-portrait pieces, it invites viewers to question anthropocentric narratives. His work merges material processes, machine design, and natural transformations using elements like beeswax, petroleum, mushrooms, and solar energy to reflect the cycles of creation and destruction and the ecological impact.

Ferlat’s meticulous documentation of his work transforms each stage of it into an artistic journey of material and spiritual evolution, emphasizing process. His work extends to social and environmental themes, interrogating concepts of nature, sustainability, and techno-science, encouraging reflection on humanity’s relationship with the environment.

— Mariano Sardon, curator