<3 S P S <3 (2016-2017) is a portrait and part of the design of a tailor-made silk shirt for the sitter, a singer from the Spanish trap scene. Lorea Alfaro views the design of the shirt like the making of a mould: “A mould is a piece [SHIRT], or number of coupled pieces [PATTERN], internally hollow but with the external details and imprints of the future solid that one wishes to obtain [HIM]. A flexible mould [SILK] is usually assembled with a rigid counter-mould [VIDEO] or ‘mother’ [MOTHER] that holds the shape to prevent its deformation [VIDEO]. The advantage of flexible moulds is that they can be removed more delicately [SILK], leading to a better result for the piece. It is also lighter [SILK] and more durable [ARTE]”.

The print on the shirt is a repeated motif of a tattoo that was on the forearm of one of her relatives. This same motif has had other bodies in previous works such as Paretara (2014) or the Paski #mablood scarf (2015). These repetitions, present in all her work, signal the artist’s interest in seeking ways of incorporating elements into life that stem from a type of attention, care and time, different from those found in everyday objects.

Lorea Alfaro (Estella Lizarra, 1982) is an artist. Her most recent works can be seen in the exhibitions 2020, together with Jon Otamendi (Fundación Joan Miró, 2021), Un mundo sin cualidades (Galería CarrerasMugica, 2020) or No lo banalices (Galería CarerrasMugica, 2018, 948Merkatua, 2019). She has been working through the hollow brand LA (3l3a) since 2014.