Ornament and crime

In his famous essay “Ornament and Crime” (1929), the modernist architect Adolf Loos defended the “immoral” and “degenerate” nature of ornament – ​​of adornment – ​​especially in utilitarian objects. Today, the boundaries between art and decoration, minimalism and ornament, or art and craftsmanship are increasingly fluid, more liquid. Trends and fashions are also blurred and confused with each other. The work of Estefanía Martín Sáenz (Bilbao, 1982) addresses the latent meanings in ornamental images (from wallpaper patterns to textile prints), in whose design drawing plays a fundamental role. Among the arabesques of these geometric or floral motifs, the artist reveals to us a lively world of hidden beings and characters. This poetry is characterized by a unique treatment of the feminine universe and its emotions, where sweetness and delicacy, charm and seduction - in short, the "positive" clichés culturally associated with the image of women: charming, submissive, airy, faithful, innocent, self-sacrificing - appear inseparable from their opposites.