Piquete de ombligo
She waits inside the pause, 2025
Ceramics (stoneware with clay from Zacatecas and ash from Popocatépetl, reduction firing)
Coming in at you, 2024
Acrylic on wall
Piquete de ombligo, 2025
Ceramics with slips from the Santa Rosa Jauregui dam, Querétaro
Collective artwork produced in the workshop “Ombligo como materia”, in collaboration with Selma Guisande and the Centro de las Artes de Querétaro, with the following artists:
Adriana Rangel
Alba Maria G
Alba Zavala
Alejandro Metzger A.
Alejandro Villalva
Ana Dira Valdez
Ana Marina R. O.
Antumbra
Aura Regina
Berenice Yañez
Bruja Narcisa
Carlos Leyva
Jessica Hernández
Marl Anton
Nallim Ithursarry B.
Ócotl
Sara Gàndara
Ensayo sobre una mirada cercana, 2025
Photography mounted on MDF, Premium Luster, 270 gsm
Ongoing photographic series initiated during the residency at the Cité internationale des arts, Paris, France.
Untitled, 2025
Ceramics (stoneware with clay from Zacatecas, ash from Popocatépetl, combustible materials, and various oxides)
Pellizco, 2025
Ceramics (stoneware with clay from Zacatecas, ash from Popocatépetl, and iron oxide)
Cuento telúrico, 2025
Ceramics (stoneware with clay from Zacatecas and ash from Popocatépetl, reduction firing)
Piquete de ombligo
En la superficie de las esculturas en cerámica de la artista austriaca Julia Schuster (Viena, 1989) permanecen las marcas del tacto que las formó. Dedos, palmas y nudillos empujaron contra el barro húmedo y este cedió, dejando visibles los surcos y hendiduras que caracterizan gran parte de la producción de la artista. Son estos rastros de la voluntad de su cuerpo sobre la materia, y su entorno, los que en conjunto definen la presente exposición.
La muestra reúne obras, poesía, y ejercicios entorno al cuerpo humano, en particular el vientre y las piernas. La obra principal —desarrollada a partir de la forma de un rombo— surge de la posición que toman las piernas de la artista acostada boca arriba sobre su cama: cadera abierta, rodillas ligeramente dobladas, pies tocándose. El rombo muta: se reproduce, se repite, da una voltereta y se abre como una bisagra. Es un ejercicio de geometría en torno a la forma del cuerpo y la repetición de los movimientos que éste produce. En la superficie de cada de las treinta y seis piezas que conforman la obra, se vislumbran las marcas de las manos que le dieron forma.
Gran parte de la obra de Julia se enfoca en el vientre bajo: el ombligo, el abdomen y el sacro. Las demás obras en la exposición muestran cómo se ha ido articulando y explorando este interés, a través de investigaciones, talleres y numerosas residencias en instituciones artísticas de todo el mundo. En Querétaro se reúnen estas exploraciones iniciadas en París, Corea y Reino Unido para presentar una muestra integral de la obra de la artista seleccionada en el intercambio artístico entre esta dependencia y la región de Västra Götaland en Suecia.
Commissioned essay by Mari Carmen Barios Giordano
(English translation follows)
Acknowledgments
This exhibition was made possible through the Artist Residency (October–November 2025) at MCQRO | Museo de la Ciudad de Querétaro and CEART | Centro de las Artes de Querétaro, as part of the Artistic and Cultural Exchange between the Västra Götaland Region (Sweden) and the State of Querétaro (Mexico). I gratefully acknowledge VGR, MCQRO, CEART, the Secretaría de Cultura del Estado de Querétaro, and the Embassy of Sweden in Mexico City for their support. I am also thankful to Meira Wiczak Ahmemulić (Västra Götalandsregionen) for invaluable practical support prior to the residency.
My most profound thanks to Gabriel Hörner García, Director of the Museo de la Ciudad de Querétaro, for his generosity, friendship, and unwavering support for artists.
All new works were produced with the extraordinary support of Luis Batres and Dan Marte at Estudio Cerámico Contemporáneo (ECC), and their wonderful team. Thank you for welcoming me into your studio as an artist in residence. I am immensely grateful for the shared knowledge, care, and collaboration.
I also extend my gratitude to the entire ECC team—Santiago Limón Valdez, Omar Galicia, Ocótl, Paulina Morales, Vale Sánchez González, and Erick Lira—for their vital contributions. This exhibition would not have materialised without Estudio Cerámico Contemporáneo.
Thank you deeply to Ana Marina R. O. for leading the ancestral pit-firing process with such generosity and knowledge.
The collective work Piquete de ombligo was produced at CEART Querétaro during the workshop Ombligo como materia, in collaboration with Selma Guisande. My sincere thanks to Mónica Arandia and Manuel Trujillo at CEART for financing the workshop, and to all participating artists for a profoundly meaningful, ritual-like collective experience.
I am deeply grateful to Selma Guisande and Avcine Fundación for our collaboration, inspiration, and friendship, and to Berenice Yañez for her solidarity and essential behind-the-scenes support.
I am also greatly indebted to Mari Carmen Barrios Giordano for her excellent questions, insightful essay, and curatorial guidance, and to Paulina Barrios Giordano for the sensitive Spanish translation of my poem Coming in at you.
At the Museo de la Ciudad de Querétaro, I warmly thank Edith Puga, Cain Torres, Luis Sandoval Pintor, Mónica Garrido, Emma Flores Leal, Benjamín Ramírez Díaz, Jorge Luis Arroyo Ángeles, and Javier Jiménez for their professionalism and dedication. Thanks also to Cristina Galaz, Erick Lira, Ana Dira Valdez Leal, and Selma Guisande for their invaluable help during installation.
Finally, my heartfelt gratitude goes to the many friends and chosen family I encountered in Mexico—especially Ana Dira Valdez Leal and her daughters Irery and Leslie Santibáñez—whose generosity and support were absolutely essential in navigating a new environment.
Through Piquete de ombligo, exploring movement, the navel, and the umbilical cord, many new connections were formed.
Thank you all.
Photos © Eduardo Lindacher, Exhibition View 'Piquete de ombligo', Museo de la Ciudad de Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico, 21 Nov 2025 - 25 January 2026.