I just wanna hold you close

but so far all I have are dreams of you (1)

On 31 March 1995 the Tejano (2) singer Selena Quintanilla was shot and killed at the Days Inn motel in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the president of her fan club. Within hours, fans of the pop star began to descend on the motel to lay offerings and leave messages. Within days, a number of memorials in the form of ofrendas, shrines and banners could be seen across the city. And in the years to follow, Selena would be remembered through customised t-shirts, (3) look-alike competitions, a feature film, (4) the namesake Disney star and musician (5) and, most recently, a line of MAC makeup.

Far from the Days Inn motel, Colombian-born Australian artist Claudia Nicholson has invoked the life and legacy of Selena through a memorial in the form of an ephemeral installation and series of performances. For Nicholson, Selena acts not only as a galvanising figure within the Latin community, but her continued reference in pop culture suggests the emergence of a kind of cultural identity that can be interpreted and reperformed across geographical and temporal distances.

All I have are dreams of you (2017) is a new installation and performance project by Nicholson that expands upon many of the artist’s conceptual investigations, principally how an experience of hybridity may be explored through traditional cultural practices. At the centre of the work is Nicholson’s alfombra de aserrín (sawdust carpet). These ephemeral works are traditionally created by Central and South American communities through a process of layering dyed sawdust, often using stencils, to realise complex pictorial designs. While the tradition has its origins in the celebration of Corpus Christi in Spain, the practice was introduced to the Americas during the 16th and 17th centuries, and in the following decades was adopted by Indigenous communities for its formal similarities to other forms, such as the flower and fruit offerings of Mexico. Here, the alfombras became channels for the transference of not only Spanish colonial inheritance but also Indigenous folkloric knowledge.

Nicholson continues this logic in her own artwork, incorporating a wide range of imagery from logos of counterfeit fashion labels to white roses and the lyrics of Selena’s song. It becomes a palette across which marginalised and conflicting narratives coexist. Contributing to the ongoing legacy of Selena, Nicholson’s memorial acts as a location for the artist to forge relationships with the Latin American diaspora, both locally and internationally, through a series of commemorative performances. But Nicholson’s project also illuminates the geographical and cultural distances from her country of birth. While she has collaborated with dancers and singers to choreograph the series of performances, in this instance the creation of the carpet itself – usually a community action – is realised by the artist alone.

And for all the time that it takes Nicholson to create the carpet, in a moment it is destroyed; transformed from creation to citation. All I have are dreams of you marks a moment in the historical trajectory of Selena. While on one level Nicholson creates a scenario where the local Latin community can reflect on shared cultural experiences, the work also engenders a mode of identification that can shift and adapt across global and local landscapes.

Notes

(1) Lyrics from the song ‘Dreaming of You’ (1995) by Selena.

(2) Since the 20th century, Tejano has been used to identify a Mexican–American resident of South Texas.

(2) Worn by various celebrities including Drake, Lady Gaga, Kylie Jenner and Jay Z.

(3) Titled Selena, the 1997 film stars Jennifer Lopez.

(4) Selena Gomez.