Delcy Morelos
El abrazo
- ArtistDelcy Morelos
- PhotographerDon Stahl
MICHEL ROJKIND Delcy Morelos turns earth into a sacred and monumental presence. In ‘El Abrazo’ she even gives instructions on how to touch the soil, a fragile and fertile material that becomes architecture, dissolving boundaries between art, ritual, and space. The complete experience absorbed in all the senses makes this piece so compelling.
El abrazo - The Earth’s Embrace
At Dia Chelsea in New York, Colombian artist Delcy Morelos presented El abrazo (“The Embrace”), a large-scale installation built from soil, straw, coconut fibers, and scented with spices like cinnamon and cloves.
The work appears as a massive earth structure that fills the gallery space, pressing against the ceiling and hovering just above the floor. Visitors are invited to walk inside, touch the walls, and experience the smell and texture of the material.
Morelos has long used earth as her main medium, treating it as a living material rather than a backdrop. In this piece, she connects viewers to the ground in both a physical and symbolic sense. “The earth is a mountain that embraces you,” she says, framing the installation as a response to urban isolation and a reminder of our dependence on nature.
Beyond its sensory impact, El abrazo also points to ecological concerns. The materials reference fragile ecosystems such as peatlands, which play a vital role in climate balance but are under threat from human exploitation.
Minimal in form yet rich in associations, El abrazo combines sculptural presence with environmental reflection. It transforms the gallery into a space where art, nature, and audience meet - not just to be observed, but to be felt.
Caption
Delcy Morelos, El abrazo (The Embrace, detail), 2023.
Recycled garden soil, clay from Dia Beacon, coir, hay, cinnamon, clove, copaiba oil, Eco Tackifier, water, and fragrance
Installation view, Dia Chelsea, New York, 2023.
© Delcy Morelos. Photo: Don Stahl
Courtesy the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery