Tú eres otro yo

Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, CAC Málaga. Spain. December 2022- March 2023.

Tú Eres Otro Yo is an installation-based exhibition that intervenes in the walls of CAC Málaga with green vines, inspired by the decorations found in certain Latino neighborhoods of Los Angeles during the artist’s childhood. Like a kind of genealogical tree, these branches hold and embrace a series of thirty acrylic drawings on paper, conceived as a dreamlike diary. Emerging from a state of reverie and from approaches to mystical ways of acquiring knowledge—alchemy, palmistry, tarot, and ancient Judeo-Christian imagery—this series celebrates both past and future through the symbol of The Hand, understood here as a sign of depth and power.

The Hand, one of the earliest artistic expressions seen in cave paintings as a declaration of presence—“I am here”—appears in this exhibition as a window into both past and future. It evokes divine force and the support of a greater power, serving as a structure akin to those imagined by ancient philosophers to safeguard and preserve “secret signs.” The hand has long symbolized wisdom and its transmission, as well as the channeling of energetic power. Like sign language, the hand in this series becomes a deck of “cards” whose visual language sparks imagination and invites open interpretation.

Certain motifs reappear throughout these drawings: the salamander, as a creature of resilience and strength; fire, as a symbol of beginnings, fertility, and purification; the sunflower and the pomegranate, evoking healing, renewal, and solar energy; the eclipse, as an energetic portal, a sign of transformation, and a dreamlike symbol, paired with the black circle that honors chance and the uncontrollable. Figures such as The Fool, The High Priestess, The Empress, and other tarot cards embody balance, instinct, stability, the energy of Taurus, and the force of love. And of course, gold, a constant in Sarabia’s practice—once tied to family history and hidden treasure—now also resonates as a reference to pure energy, protection, and the divine.

Tú Eres Otro Yo unfolds as an invitation to transformation and openness to the future, weaving together elements that bridge different cultures and nations. It is a call to reconnect with the sacred and the mystical—in nature, within ourselves, with others, and within a collective self.