In the 15 works created during her residency at Singapore Tyler Print Institute last year, the background of vivid magenta skies, resplendent with Braille messages created using intricately minute perforations made out of mirrors, take multi-layered forms as one views them from different perspectives.
The works, named after doomed romances, ancient jewels and famous latitude lines, cleverly resonate with the MacArthur Award-winning artist’s fascination with how humans have always looked up to the skies for information.
While it is easy to interpret the fable of ill-fated, star-crossed lovers in works like Devdas and Paro and Tristan and Isolde and how latitude lines like the Tropic of Capricorn have been important in navigation, the works challenge you with their indecipherable messages.
The confusion is no accident, as Fernández work references “Ecriture Nocture,” or “Night Writing,” a perplexing communication system designed by French army Captain Charles Barbier de la Serre during Napoleon’s reign.
If you do want to take home one of these unique creations, be prepared to fork out between $20,000 and $45,0000.
Night Writing runs through Oct 29 at Singapore Tyler Print Institute.
