Zoo’s Days (2004)

"Rain is so beautiful, it makes me sad," was the observation made by the artist's eight year old son, Zoo, and what motivated her to make the works for Zoo's Days. She wanted the pieces to convey the sensitivity and fragility she felt in his words.

For Zoo When it Rains, the artist slices Zoo's body into fine diagonal strips that are held together with narrow strips of archival artist's tape and look like rain falling across his body. One senses both the pain and beauty in the child's identification with rain. For Zoo When it Snows, the artists cuts the child's body into snowflakes then held together with bits of white adhesive tape that look like falling snow.

For the two largest piece in the show, the artist celebrates the very fragility of her son by creating his breath. The pieces hang on facing walls in the large exhibition space and about 3cm from the wall. Color - representative of air and life for the artist- is symbolically inhaled or exhaled from the recto to the verso sides of the photographs. The cutout design underscores the sense of movement of Zoo Breathing In and Zoo Breathing Out.

The final piece in the show, Flower Zoo, was a response to Cardelús' son standing on her work table demanding she take a photograph of him. He said he was envious of the photo of his sister, Laura, in progress at the time in her studio. Cardelús took the photograph of him with Laura's Inheritance visible in the background. To make the piece, Cardelús extended the flower motifs from Laura's Inheritance to Zoo's body, creating holes - wounds? - in it.