Caracaballo
Media installation with wax and sugar sculpture (ca. 32 × 22 × 15 cm), HD video, color, English, 8:18 min
2015
“Caracaballo” examines the breeding of the “ideal horse” and its social significance in 17th- and 18th-century court culture. Horses were bred to embody ideals of classical baroque equestrianism and reflect beauty standards also imposed on women’s bodies, shaped by fashion and restraint.
Drawing on Claude Bourgelat’s measurement system for the “perfect horse,” I modified a 3D scan of my own head to match his proportions, creating a hybrid sculptural bust. The accompanying video interlaces the modeling process with tutorials on feminine grooming for jockeys, while a voice narrates a 19th-century Lady’s Equestrian Manual, revealing the gendered aesthetics of control and representation.
