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Elia Alba

Country of Origin: Dominican Republic

2100 Smallman St.  Pittsburgh, PA  15222 | 412.261.7003 | www.contemporarycraft.org

If I Were A....2003

Photocopy transfers on muslin, thread, created by digitally manipulating the color of artist’s skin and body parts


Courtesy of the Collection of El Museo del Barrio, New York. Acquired through “PROARTISTA: Sustaining the Work of Living Contemporary Artists,” a fund from the Jacques and Natashia Gelman Trust, and a donation from the artist.

Masks, 2004

Photocopy transfer on muslin, thread

La Jaba, 2003

Photocopy transfers over muslin polyester fill, bells & ribbon


Esta obra examina aspectos del retratismo, la representación y el mestizaje (la mezcla literal e imaginada de razas),  el performance y el lugar de la figura humana dentro de nuestra red de normas sociales. Inspirada por el trabajo de su madre en la industria de prenda, Elia Alba llegó a combinar la costura con la fotografía, y enturbió las fronteras entre el retratismo y la naturaleza muerta en su obra. Se ven las cabezas como marcadores de la cultura y la historia, metáforas de la condición humana y los signos de identidad. Muchas de sus obras llegan a ser instrumentos utilizados en la presentación y para hacer preguntas fundamentales. ¿Qué es el significado de raza o género? ¿Cómo se marcan los cuerpos, las caras y las personas por estos conceptos?

This body of work examines aspects of portraiture, representation and miscegenation (literal and imagined mixing of races), performance and the place of the human figure within our web of social norms.  Inspired by her mother’s work in the garment industry, Elia Alba came to combine sewing with photography blurring the boundaries between portraiture and still life in her work. Her heads are seen as markers of culture and history, metaphors for the human condition and signs of identity. Many of her works become tools used in performance and ask fundamental questions. What is the significance of race or gender? How are bodies, faces and people marked by these concepts?

To inquire about purchases please email kati@contemporarycraft.org