By Erica Em.

First Communion by Sergio Plata is a sculptural reminiscence of his earliest memories entering the Catholic Church in Mexico City. The piece oozes in a childlike awe and nostalgia articulated by the sixty kilograms of wax that has been manipulated by Sergio. First Communion won the hearts of the visitors at the 67^th Blake Prize Exhibition and was awarded People’s Choice Award.

Sergio Plata was born in Mexico City, Mexico and is an alum of the Academy of San Carlos, where Mexican artists like Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco are fellow alumni. He lived in Vancouver, Canada, and had a successful exhibition in Toronto, before moving to Sydney, Australia. He predominantly works with oil paintings on canvas and sculptures.

The earlier works he created after his arrival in Sydney, he describes reflected traditional Mexican art styles. “When I first moved here, I used bright colours, like Mexican blue colours, orange, yellow, [and] red. I was told ‘Oh this looks very Mexican’ because when I moved here, I thought a lot about Mexico and used the colours I saw all my life in Mexico. I come from a country where there’s lots and lots of culture in that way. In my artworks, even if I don’t think about my culture, I still see results related to my culture” he shares.

_{Photo of Sergio's art studio. Image supplied by Sergio Plata.}

Sergio’s works and style resemble the cultural and artistic traditions of Mexico and Aztecs, who are one of the Indigenous groups in Mexico. However, he blends unconventional materials, such as Mexican chilies, to build his sculpture. His sculpture, titled “I am and I am not”, crafted with over eight hundred Mexican chilies, was awarded the Sculpture Prize in the Hunters Hill Art Exhibition. It drew controversy at its reward, with concerns of allergies or its status as an artwork, but it was his use of an unconventional material that proved his reward. He displays a sense of acceptance when sharing the disagreeable reactions from the public towards his art. “I like to not explain it to the people what the meaning is or something like that because everybody has different stories. For me that’s my experiences with my artwork, for you it can be completely different. I get reactions that are like it’s too confronting or it’s too strong.” In fact, he actively explores themes of fears and hopelessness in his artworks, “I like to create reactions and disturb”.

_{Plata, Sergio, I am and I am not, 2011, sculpture, Mexican chilli. Image supplied by Sergio Plata.}

The cultural differences between Mexico and Australia puts Sergio in a position as an educator about Mexican culture. One of his first major installations in Sydney, was in 2014 for the Australian Museum’s Aztecs exhibition. Sergio had an installation in the form of an ofrenda, a collection of objects placed on a ritual altar in an offering to ancestors and deceased relatives, traditionally decorated with candles, flowers and food for Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead. He recalls the reactions of the audience, “kids were scared of paper mâché skulls. People were scared but it’s nothing to be scared of.”

_{Image supplied by Sergio Plata.}

His artworks are a continual narrative on the notion of duality, nuances of spirituality, “fears, faith and hopes”, reinforced by his blend of traditional and unconventional practices and mediums. While working on paintings, Sergio emphasises that he works in layers. “It’s a process of discovery. I don’t know what would happen and that’s why I like to work with layers. Sometimes I remove one layer; destroy to change or create something different. Some people will say it’s scary but it’s beautiful. It’s dark but you can find beauty and the spirituality. I try to balance the things I cannot communicate in this social life; I try to reflect in my paintings. It’s catharsis to balance.”

When asked about where he sources inspiration for his art, he responds like a quintessential artist would: memories, observations, and experiences. He emphasises that his memories and cultural heritage are a source of inspiration to initiate his creations. “My memories, I work with my artwork with images and experiences. Every time I go to Mexico it’s refreshing. When I go to the church, I see the beautiful paintings, flowers, priests, people praying, the atmosphere… I’m open to my experiences. For example, I am starting to get memories of Australia.” Sergio has noticed the evolution of his art style involving more reds, ochres and terracotta in his recent works, inspired by the natural landscapes of Australia, compared to the bright blues reminiscent of Mexico.

Currently, Sergio shares that he’s returning to classic techniques. His primary mediums are paintings and sculptures, but he uses a breadth of materials from oil paints, canvas, paper mâché, wax, ceramics, metal and chili. “Each materials have different ways to express what I want to express. I may be able to express a concept in my paintings, but when I do that in my sculpture it does not work. So I need to change materials.” He is currently in Mexico undertaking a traditional ceramics course to refine his skills for a current project where he is mixing clay and metal.

Photography by Chantel Bann, 2022.