R/C Piñata cars, 2019
Text Me When You Get Home explores habits and rituals adopted by women in response to the threat of lurking predators in public spaces. Here, piñatas depict everyday objects transformed into weapons of self-defense and we investigate casual rituals embraced as a form of protection against sexual harassment and violence.
2022
La Culpa Por Estar Eecha de Papel, 2020
[The guilt for being made of paper]
Dimensions: 12’ x 6”
2018
Popup installation at Liberty Station | San Diego, CA
"EL AMOR ES LA COSA MAS TRISTE CUANDO SE ACABA, DICE UNA CANCION DE JOMBIN" - MARCO
HABLE CON ELLA PEDRO ALMODOVAR
The piñata drone
10” x 11.5”
Cardboard structure with 4 dc motors wired and powered by electricity.
Projection: People in Mexico interacting with a fence along Playas de Tijuana/Imperial Beach border.
2019
“We have broken our planet to the extent that it is no longer capable of rewarding us with its natural magic.” By utilizing the piñata as a method to convey stories and messages, Diana Benavidez reflects on the current Anthropocene epoch. Through the use of projection mapping techniques, video collages of local landscapes are projected onto a traditional six-star piñata which present unique patterns caused by irreversible human activities.
Anti Time Capsule
2017
Collaboration with a Parkeology public art event.
Photography by Rafa Rios
Ni Puta Ni Santa
2018
Asking For It
Adam D. Kamil Gallery, UC San Diego
2016
Raised in Chula Juana
2015
In this body of work, Diana Benavidez introduces the piñata as a method for storytelling, expression, and reflection. Benavidez shares her personal narratives by manipulating physically and conceptually the piñata through the incorporation materials not commonly found in traditional piñatas. Through the use of color, scale, and text, this popular Mexican art form is transformed into a contemporary art practice that explores mental states and emotions.
Closing ceremony September 4, 2019
Community members were invited to bring poems, flowers, love letters, candy to help fill the piñata.
Poems and love letters collected were read out loud at the end of the ceremony.
