“A conversation between the past and the future” by Luis Valenzuela

A few years ago, I learned about the Chopines, a platform shoe with tall wooden or cork platform soles developed in the early sixteenth century, especially popular among women. That story inspired my earliest shoe-sculpture series “A conversation between the past and the future” driven by the human desire to be exposed. The Chopine was a practical and symbolic function. The thick-soled, raised shoe was designed to protect the foot from irregularly paved and wet or muddy streets. But the enhancement of the wears stature also played a role. Nearly 500 years ago, these sky-high, geometric platforms were created to fulfill the desire to expose and convey families' wealth and the more significant affluence of the regions.
It is fascinating; history is constantly repeating. In this shoe-sculpture series, let's talk about that desire's future, the human expectation of being relevant and express messages through personalized objects".

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