CON-DECORACIÓN, 2018

Lorena Gutiérrez Camejo

Collection

Lorena Gutiérrez Camejo

CON-DECORACIÓN, 2018
Five panels of embroidery with polyamide thread on cotton support
18.5 x 14.2 cm (embroidery, each)
Overall dimensions variable

Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Collection

In CON-DECORACIÓN, Lorena Gutiérrez Camejo examines the symbolic language of military decorations and the ideologies they embody. Drawing inspiration from the formal structure and chromatic compositions of medal ribbons—those small, often vibrant strips that signify acts of valor and service—she reconstructs their visual logic through the delicate medium of embroidery. Using polyamide thread in various colors on cotton fabric, Gutiérrez Camejo creates five intimate works that evoke the format of military medal bars while transforming their visual and conceptual resonance.

Far from a tribute, this series functions as a critical intervention. For Gutiérrez Camejo, the ostentation of military honors has lost its meaning, as the deeds they commemorate are frequently rooted in war, violence, and death. Rather than upholding these markers of merit, she deliberately undermines their symbolic weight by reinterpreting them as purely decorative objects. The title itself—CON-DECORACIÓN, a play on the Spanish word for "decoration"—alludes to this tension between adornment and recognition, between surface and substance.

Her subversion unfolds both materially and metaphorically. The gradual fading of color in the embroideries, culminating in monochromatic tones, acts as a visual metaphor for the erosion of meaning. In draining the ribbons of their color, Gutiérrez Camejo signals the loss of value in the concept of "merit" when it is reduced to spectacle or ornamentation. The once-charged hues of honor become neutralized, pointing to a broader critique of how societies memorialize acts of aggression through symbolic systems that often mask violence beneath aesthetics.

Through CON-DECORACIÓN, Gutiérrez Camejo invites viewers to reconsider the assumptions embedded in national symbols, institutional pride, and collective memory. Her work dismantles the illusion of glory, replacing it with a quiet, reflective questioning of the values we attach to recognition and the cost at which it is earned.