By Martina Zaruma Ortega
Combining a recycled vinyl record, paper, and oil paint, this piece embodies the endless fall into obsession, a broken record replaying the same song, yet the hope for a different ending. Like a candle that keeps burning, the comfort of being held burns. The song repeats, dissolving into blood and fire, into the quiet collapse of not belonging, the edge of the mind that keeps pulling the same cord: you don’t belong to anyone, not even yourself anymore. I chose to create this piece because obsession is so hard to make tangible, especially as it reminds me of an unhealthy attachment from a past relationship. I initially painted the record, but then decided to use a real one instead, layering paint and paper atop it in a way akin to how I kept returning to my past partner at the time. Finally, I decided to take a photo of the finished object, as something that both represented that cycle and allowed me to place distance between myself and it.