Ana González Barragán (1989, Mexico) is an artist and researcher examining the cultural, political, and ideological implications of ancient and modern civilizations sustained by economic orders rooted in extractivist dynamics. Through installations combining geological bodies, ready-mades, ceramics, and time-based media, Ana’s work offers evocative provocations to undertake reflection processes about the culture/nature divide across different regions and historical moments.
As a researcher interested in finding contingent ways to immerse in relational modes of knowledge exchange and territorial recognition, Ana’s practice is guided by an intuitive desire to implement cross-platform and non-fixed methodologies to engage with mining industries that go from the micro to the macro. After more than ten years of conducting research-based practice in the obsidian mining industry of central Mexico, her work is infused with ethnographical interactions and collaborative work with local communities. Her recent relocation to Colorado opened new horizons. As a territory with a strong mining heritage that still permeates the economy and society, Ana foresaw the opportunity to delve into the socio-political context, labor dynamics, and dominant narratives that maintain an active global design reliant on extractivist megaprojects.
As a researcher interested in finding contingent ways to immerse in relational modes of knowledge exchange and territorial recognition, Ana’s practice is guided by an intuitive desire to implement cross-platform and non-fixed methodologies to engage with mining industries that go from the micro to the macro. After more than ten years of conducting research-based practice in the obsidian mining industry of central Mexico, her work is infused with ethnographical interactions and collaborative work with local communities. Her recent relocation to Colorado opened new horizons. As a territory with a strong mining heritage that still permeates the economy and society, Ana foresaw the opportunity to delve into the socio-political context, labor dynamics, and dominant narratives that maintain an active global design reliant on extractivist megaprojects.