Philadelphia artist Emilio Maldonado creates work about material culture, particularly in North America. The artist’s personal history plays a large part in his creative process. Born in San Pedro de Macorís, he later relocated to the U.S. and was struck by the very different consumer culture he observed in comparison to that of his childhood in the Dominican Republic. Working in painting, video, performance, and sculpture, Maldonado often collects discarded, domestic objects to use in his work. He states, “I am interested in their access to memory and language… and the ways in which they(we) ascribe to social conventions.”

Maldonado’s installation at Philadelphia International Airport is a response to the spaces we live in and the burden of material comfort. The remarkably dense collection of odds and ends mounted to the wall is reminiscent of hoarding, a compulsion that serves to emotionally soothe the collector, while it also threatens to physically suffocate. By exploring issues of mental health, safety, and social inequality, he hopes to spark conversation and inspire self-reflection and a sense of human interconnection.

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