Erika Verzutti

The sculptures of Brazilian artist, Erika Verzutti, summarise and reduce natural forms to their essential elements. In contrast, in her ceramic, paper mache, metal and cement pieces, Verzutti decontextualises the objects she works with, thus altering their meanings. Turning often to humour and irony, the artist incorporates elements of daily life in her work as if they were objects found outside of their original function. In this case, for example, a row of multiple bunches of bananas forms a cockade (an insignia made from a fabric rosette on a ribbon with the national colours of a nation, usually the ones from their flag). Moulded from real bananas, this bronze sculpture transforms the sensual food into a sterile emblem, demonstrating that natural resources are also political. In doing so, perhaps Verzutti has designed the crest of the “banana republics”.