Images(8)

Descansa Espíritus/Spirits Rest

Date2024

Artist Guadalupe Maravilla (Salvadoran, born 1976)

Mediumpolished aluminum

ClassificationFine Art

SubclassificationInstallation

Credit LineCurated by Elizabeth Chodos, CMU Johnson Family Public Art Curator.

Object number2025.06.04

DescriptionMaravilla’s sculpture comprises six polished aluminum hammocks suspended into a symmetrical mobile. Each mirrors the full-scale dimensions of a single-person cloth hammock, inspired by the traditional Central American hammocks Maravilla grew up with. Soaring above the building’s central stairwell, the sculpture responds to the glass wall it faces, seemingly changing throughout the day as light and shadow shift. Maravilla selected the position because, here, the sculpture exists within all three stories of building, yet floats just out of reach. “When I use hammocks in my work, they’re never low enough so someone can touch them,” he said. “They’re high because they’re intended for the ancestors to take a rest. I believe that our guardian angels, our spirits and our ancestors, also need a break.”

On view

Location Highmark Center for Health, Wellness and Athletics (100 Tech Str