{"id":1601773,"date":"2025-12-13T08:00:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T13:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/observer.com\/?p=1601773"},"modified":"2025-12-12T17:47:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T22:47:39","slug":"interview-artist-samuel-sarmiento-relical-horn-andrew-edlin-gallery-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/12\/interview-artist-samuel-sarmiento-relical-horn-andrew-edlin-gallery-new-york\/","title":{"rendered":"Samuel Sarmiento\u2019s Ceramics Channel Universal Memory in His U.S. Debut"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_1601792\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1601792\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-1601792\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH8.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A gallery installation view shows multiple ceramic works arranged on the walls and two large ceramic sculptures on white pedestals, all illuminated by overhead spotlights on wooden floors.If you'd prefer these written in your Observer alt-text style (more concise, more atmosphe\" width=\"970\" height=\"680\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH8.jpg 4000w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH8.jpg?resize=300,210 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH8.jpg?resize=768,538 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH8.jpg?resize=635,445 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH8.jpg?resize=1536,1076 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH8.jpg?resize=2048,1435 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH8.jpg?resize=970,680 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH8.jpg?resize=320,224 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH8.jpg?resize=1920,1345 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH8.jpg?resize=50,35 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1601792\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Installation view: &#8220;Samuel Sarmiento: Relical Horn&#8221; at Andrew Edlin Gallery in New York. <span class=\"media-credit\">Courtesy of Andrew Edlin Gallery<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The ability of a given artwork to resist being stripped of meaning over time is most often the result of its link with a continuous heritage of symbolic and archetypal materials that humans have shared across centuries and geographies to explain the complexities of existence. As J. M. Coetzee suggests in his 1991 essay &#8220;What is a Classic?,&#8221; the works we call classics endure not because institutions protect them, but because they speak across time, finding new interlocutors in each era. A classic has a living presence, retaining dense symbolic meaning and demanding response and re-interpretation even as society changes.<\/p>\n<p>Engaging directly with the rich repertoire of symbols and myths of his native Venezuelan Caribbean and extending to cross-cultural resonances and similar narratives, artist Samuel Sarmiento engages with mythopoiesis directly using clay as a medium. A rich heritage of oral traditions and community storytelling is observable in his seductive kiln-fired ceramic sculptures: articulated, overlapping visual narratives and inscriptions like ancient tablets or natural fossilized traces. In the new works in his U.S. debut show at Andrew Edlin, &#8220;Relical Horn,&#8221; Sarmiento experiments with the elemental potential of clay, playing with the different transformations ceramics can undergo and embellishing his creations with patinas, glazes, pigments and even gold. His kiln&#8217;s searing heat yields kaleidoscopic, granular and liquid surfaces.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1602176\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1602176\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1602176\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"An artist in a white lab coat points at ceramic artworks displayed on the wall in his studio. The sculptures, with vibrant and intricate details, sit on tables and carts in the foreground. A large, colorful mixed-media painting of abstract human figures is mounted on the wall, providing a contrasting backdrop to the handmade ceramics.\" width=\"970\" height=\"647\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg 4682w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?resize=635,423 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?resize=970,647 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?resize=320,213 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?resize=1920,1280 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?resize=50,33 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1602176\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"An artist in a white lab coat points at ceramic artworks displayed on the wall in his studio. The sculptures, with vibrant and intricate details, sit on tables and carts in the foreground. A large, colorful mixed-media painting of abstract human figures is mounted on the wall, providing a contrasting backdrop to the handmade ceramics.\" width=\"970\" height=\"647\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg 4682w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?resize=635,423 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?resize=970,647 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?resize=320,213 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?resize=1920,1280 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Samuel-Sarmiento-Archie-Bray-Studio-3.jpg?resize=50,33 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1602176\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Samuel Sarmiento. <span class=\"media-credit\">Photo: Gabrielle Vega<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Through these alchemical processes, artists and artisans have collaborated directly with the principle of entropy and the transformation of matter for thousands of years. Clay is fired at temperatures at which any organic substance would be pushed into extinction or fragmentation, but Sarmiento transforms ceramics into living cosmogonies that embody a rich reservoir of ancestral myth and cross-cultural archetypes, layering oral traditions, Caribbean cosmology and intuitive mark-making in fragile yet enduring vessels of memory.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the primary purposes of ceramics is containment,\u201d Sarmiento tells Observer. \u201cInitially, ceramic objects held valuable resources such as <keyword data-keyword-id=\"322969\">water<\/keyword>, food and currency.\u201d He recounts an ancient tale about the medium\u2019s origins. According to a Caribbean myth, in the earliest days of humanity, it was nearly impossible to store <keyword data-keyword-id=\"322970\">water<\/keyword> because it was both difficult to contain and extremely scarce. \u201cHumans attempted to make vessels from tree leaves or wood, but both materials deteriorated over time. They decided to speak with the Goddess of the Forest, who recommended they dig a large hole next to a river, where they would find a new kind of material.\u201d When humans obeyed the Goddess and dug near the great river, they discovered clay. When they asked what to do with it, \u201cshe instructed them to shape the clay into vessels. By firing these vessels, they would be able to store <keyword data-keyword-id=\"322971\">water<\/keyword> successfully.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1601807\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1601807\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601807\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A large curved ceramic sculpture covered in painted female faces, star-like dots and clusters of small modeled objects shows a central figure with red hair surrounded by planets, shells and textured forms, with two additional faces at the top corners and one at the bottom edge.\" width=\"970\" height=\"1199\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg 3236w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?resize=243,300 243w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?resize=768,949 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?resize=485,600 485w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?resize=1243,1536 1243w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?resize=1657,2048 1657w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?resize=970,1199 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?resize=320,396 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?resize=1920,2373 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?resize=40,50 40w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601807\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A large curved ceramic sculpture covered in painted female faces, star-like dots and clusters of small modeled objects shows a central figure with red hair surrounded by planets, shells and textured forms, with two additional faces at the top corners and one at the bottom edge.\" width=\"970\" height=\"1199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg 3236w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?resize=243,300 243w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?resize=768,949 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?resize=485,600 485w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?resize=1243,1536 1243w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?resize=1657,2048 1657w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?resize=970,1199 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?resize=320,396 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?resize=1920,2373 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/DSCF1687.jpg?resize=40,50 40w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1601807\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Samuel Sarmiento, <em>The Origin of the Stars<\/em>, 2025. <span class=\"media-credit\">Courtesy the artist and Andrew Edlin Gallery<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For hundreds of years, ceramics have served as markers of the time they inhabit, Sarmiento reflects. \u201cThey have remained one of the principal mediums for deciphering a people&#8217;s ethnography because they can withstand the passage of time.\u201d This idea of time\u2014of encapsulating mythological and spiritual heritage in a vessel capable of preserving and carrying it across generations\u2014is at the heart of his practice. His ceramic works function as artifacts of collective memory, shared wisdom and mythical imagination, helping humans better understand their place in the cosmos and within the relentless flow of time.<\/p>\n<p>Sarmiento notes how French writer Roger Caillois, in <i>The Writing of Stones<\/i> (1970), argues that rocks and minerals, like landscapes themselves, have the capacity to harbor memory. \u201cThe artistic exercise of taking clay, which is part of the landscape, shaping it into forms like crowns, shells, nests, or ornaments and simultaneously using it to contain information creates a symbolic refuge,\u201d Sarmiento explains. \u201cThrough this alchemy, an artwork can help humanity preserve what little wisdom we have left.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Examining the dense narratives that adorn the surfaces of his sculptures, it\u2019s almost impossible not to read his practice through a Jungian lens: his work is a conduit through which archetypes and ancestral symbologies\u2014shared across cultures\u2014reemerge from the collective unconscious. \u201cI believe visual artists and writers alike are collectively searching to connect with the invisible,\u201d Sarmiento says, pointing out that this urge becomes even more pressing in periods when truth is most difficult to discern.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn my artistic practice, I utilize ancestral narratives from the Caribbean and South America, and sometimes Africa\u2014not for exoticism, but simply to exalt the human condition,\u201d he explains, noting that this often takes the form of rites of passage. \u201cWe are beings in constant movement.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1601791\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1601791\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601791\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A gallery corner displays a long ceramic piece on a pedestal decorated with painted mountain shapes, while two ceramic wall works hang on adjacent white walls under soft lighting.\" width=\"970\" height=\"694\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg 4000w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?resize=300,215 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?resize=768,549 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?resize=635,454 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?resize=1536,1099 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?resize=2048,1465 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?resize=970,694 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?resize=320,229 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?resize=1920,1373 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?resize=50,36 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601791\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A gallery corner displays a long ceramic piece on a pedestal decorated with painted mountain shapes, while two ceramic wall works hang on adjacent white walls under soft lighting.\" width=\"970\" height=\"694\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg 4000w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?resize=300,215 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?resize=768,549 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?resize=635,454 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?resize=1536,1099 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?resize=2048,1465 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?resize=970,694 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?resize=320,229 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?resize=1920,1373 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH3.jpg?resize=50,36 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1601791\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Born in 1987 and based in Aruba, Sarmiento investigates the fictional possibilities of history, the force of oral traditions,and the pliancy of time. <span class=\"media-credit\">Courtesy of Andrew Edlin Gallery<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A recurring element in his work is the female figure. Whether mermaids or spirit guides, they guard the narratives that appear on the surface. In many cases, these figures can be associated with nature or feminine deities like Yemay\u00e1, who represents the sea, Sarmiento says. They are figures of healing, protection and renewal in a world that needs external intervention due to humanity&#8217;s inability to resolve itself to the present.<\/p>\n<p>Across centuries and geographies, the female figure has been associated with birth, life and protection, mothering the world in a relentless cycle of generation, transformation, decay and renewal. And it is in times of great despair and chaos that these figures and the mythological world they inhabit can guide us into a metaphorical realm that helps us see beyond the present moment and reconnect with something deeper and universal.<\/p>\n<p>A self-taught artist who has only recently begun to engage with the broader international art world, Sarmiento preserves a raw and primordial visual lexicon that appears to have escaped the influences of both art-historical tradition and contemporary art market trends. The apparent simplicity or naivety of his language results from a spontaneous and intuitive process of channeling, in which ancient symbols, myth and memories emerge from the collective unconscious and are translated into new forms through a contemporary practice.<\/p>\n<p>As Michael Meade explains, to see with mythic imagination is to see metaphorically\u2014referring to the old Greek word <i>metaphor<\/i>, which means not just to see beyond, but to be carried beyond the limits of linear time and literal thinking. \u201cThe new territory or new world only comes into view and becomes conscious to us when a new vision arises from the darkness around us and from the unseen depths of our own unconscious,\u201d he said in a recent podcast, which profoundly resonates with what Sarmiento is pushing with his art: not a new world but a new vision in which past, present and future coexist.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1601797\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1601797\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601797\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A pair of tall, narrow ceramic slabs displayed side by side depict a dense forest of palm trees, small animals and dotted patterns, with textured, shell-like ridges and touches of gold glaze along the top edges.\" width=\"970\" height=\"853\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg 4000w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?resize=300,264 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?resize=768,675 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?resize=635,558 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?resize=1536,1350 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?resize=2048,1800 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?resize=970,853 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?resize=320,281 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?resize=1920,1688 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?resize=50,44 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601797\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A pair of tall, narrow ceramic slabs displayed side by side depict a dense forest of palm trees, small animals and dotted patterns, with textured, shell-like ridges and touches of gold glaze along the top edges.\" width=\"970\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg 4000w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?resize=300,264 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?resize=768,675 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?resize=635,558 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?resize=1536,1350 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?resize=2048,1800 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?resize=970,853 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?resize=320,281 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?resize=1920,1688 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Transit-Heraclitus-River-3.jpeg?resize=50,44 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1601797\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Samuel Sarmiento, <em>Transit (Heraclitus River)<\/em>, 2024. <span class=\"media-credit\">Courtesy the artist and Andrew Edlin Gallery<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The sensibility of the work lies in synthesizing and connecting seemingly disparate references to create new poetics, Sarmiento explains, walking us through a richly layered ecosystem of references that idiosyncratically exist in his work, spanning from Jorge Luis Borges&#8217; short story \u201cThe Circular Ruins\u201d (1940) to Robert Smithson\u2019s <i>Spiral Jetty<\/i> (1970) and the movie <i>Fitzcarraldo<\/i>. As an exercise in argumentation, he takes these primary ideas and pairs them with Caribbean concepts and mythologies. Some of the show\u2019s pieces reference the legend regarding the origin of the continents, which are said to have emerged from ruins and furrows located on the seabed.<\/p>\n<p>Living for more than 13 years in the Dutch Caribbean has allowed Sarmiento to accumulate a vast library of oral narratives. Having been born in Venezuela, a country with a rich literary tradition and also multicultural connections, Sarmiento was motivated to approach art through universal stories. \u201cAll these references converge in a single object\u2014whether a two- or three-dimensional sculpture\u2014which often possesses geomorphic characteristics resembling sea coral or honeycombs,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n<p>Sarmiento\u2019s encyclopedic lexicon fluidly draws from ancient oral tales as well as more recent books. He mentions <i>Guns, Germs, and Steel<\/i> (1997) by Jared Diamond and <i>The Invention of Nature<\/i> (2015) by Andrea Wulf as part of his contemporary references. \u201cOne of the fundamental characteristics of oral narratives is their ability to explain complex processes through simple images or stories,\u201d he elaborates. Tropes can be accessible at different levels\u2014what Homer once expressed, Disney later embraced.<\/p>\n<p>As in a geological process of sedimentation and development, found in both natural and cultural realms, \u201cIf we look at narratives ranging from the Homeric fables to South American legends, we see that archetypal symbols such as life, death, the journey, the encounter and exile are often repeated,\u201d Sarmiento says. \u201cPart of my artistic exercise is to recontextualize these archetypal and universal symbols in an era of anachronisms.\u201d Although we have information from every time and geography at our fingertips, humans often lack the capacity to recognize historical coincidences or similarities in sociopolitical processes.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1601795\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1601795\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601795\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?w=970\" alt=\"A wide three-panel ceramic piece features densely written text, small drawings and map-like diagrams framed by dark blue and gold protruding spikes, with each panel joined side by side on the wall.\" width=\"970\" height=\"482\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png 4000w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?resize=300,149 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?resize=768,381 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?resize=635,315 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?resize=1536,763 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?resize=2048,1017 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?resize=970,482 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?resize=320,159 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?resize=1920,953 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?resize=50,25 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601795\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?w=970\" alt=\"A wide three-panel ceramic piece features densely written text, small drawings and map-like diagrams framed by dark blue and gold protruding spikes, with each panel joined side by side on the wall.\" width=\"970\" height=\"482\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png 4000w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?resize=300,149 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?resize=768,381 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?resize=635,315 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?resize=1536,763 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?resize=2048,1017 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?resize=970,482 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?resize=320,159 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?resize=1920,953 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Untitled-WB-1973-1983-1993.png?resize=50,25 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1601795\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Samuel Sarmiento, <em>Untitled (WB, 1973 &#8211; 1983 &#8211; 1993)<\/em>. <span class=\"media-credit\">Courtesy the artist and Andrew Edlin Gallery<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He aims to demonstrate that while authors and languages vary across history, the story of humanity is the sum of a few core metaphors, in a continuous cycling of archetypal tropes. \u201cThis process is an exercise I have only been able to refine through reading and building visual archives,\u201d Sarmiento says. Repetition plays a crucial role in his gestures, whether in clay or drawing. \u201cAs Hans-Georg Gadamer noted in <i>The Relevance of the Beautiful<\/i>, we tend to repeat what brings us pleasure,\u201d he reflects. \u201cIn many cases, this repetition creates complex languages that lead us toward new interpretations and developments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sarmiento\u2019s process involves a tense yet generative exchange between intuition and control; he embraces the unexpected results that emerge from the interaction between energetic and psychic presence and the unpredictable reactions of clay and glaze. Despite the presence of figures or engravings, his narratives\u2014which cover the entire surface as in a <i>horror vacui<\/i> without any precise order\u2014form a kind of flow of thought-forms that defy any linguistic or visual codification. Like\u00a0 Surrealist automatic writing, these visual mythologies are the result of an intuitive reconnection with the language of a shared subconscious, to which the artist reconnects through his practice, finding new forms for the invisible. By bypassing rational control, the result is an epiphanic image\u2014a strange revelation of forms carved and crystallized on the surface of the clay.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough I am self-taught with only brief experiences in guided workshops, the driving force behind my work is purely intuitive,\u201d Sarmiento explains. \u201cStill, the symbols and figures that emerge are resources drawn from years of researching oral histories, essays, and fantastical stories, driven by an intention to communicate with people from all walks of life.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1601793\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1601793\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601793\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A rectangular ceramic relief with spiky protrusions around the edges shows a central drawing of a horned animal inside a circular fenced area, surrounded by palm-like plants, dotted textures, two large eye shapes at the bottom corners and a painted flower near the center.\" width=\"970\" height=\"894\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg 4000w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?resize=300,276 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?resize=768,708 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?resize=635,585 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?resize=1536,1415 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?resize=2048,1887 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?resize=970,894 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?resize=320,295 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?resize=1920,1769 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?resize=50,46 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601793\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A rectangular ceramic relief with spiky protrusions around the edges shows a central drawing of a horned animal inside a circular fenced area, surrounded by palm-like plants, dotted textures, two large eye shapes at the bottom corners and a painted flower near the center.\" width=\"970\" height=\"894\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg 4000w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?resize=300,276 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?resize=768,708 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?resize=635,585 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?resize=1536,1415 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?resize=2048,1887 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?resize=970,894 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?resize=320,295 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?resize=1920,1769 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/The-Hunt-of-the-Unicorn-1495-1505-4.jpeg?resize=50,46 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1601793\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Samuel Sarmiento, <em>The Hunt of the Unicorn, 1495 &#8211; 1505<\/em>, 2025. <span class=\"media-credit\">Courtesy of the artist and Andrew Edlin Gallery<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At one point, Sarmiento shares how, feeling a spontaneous connection with Jung and his thinking, he applied some years ago to a post-academic program in Switzerland. \u201cMy goal was to further my artistic research, develop a broader vision of the symbols and archetypal figures in my work, visit Carl Jung\u2019s house, and access the literature and resources offered by the program,\u201d he says. Yet the jury\u2019s response was that there was no reason he needed to visit that specific location, stating that any information I required about Jung could be found on the internet. \u201cMy practice was ultimately not considered part of a contemporary discourse,\u201d he points out, noting how one of the greatest challenges for artists from the Caribbean and South America is finding spaces where their artistic languages are appreciated through horizontal dialogue\u2014not as exotic elements meant to fill a program\u2019s minority quota.<\/p>\n<p>Sarmiento\u2019s work is a message of universality, celebrating and protecting the cross-cultural patrimony of stories and myths that might still guide humans toward a better notion of the future. He offers something beyond the Western paradigm of knowledge\u2014ancestral and primordial\u2014that has been suppressed or mostly forgotten but still resonates in the subconscious as something understood by the entirety of humanity.<\/p>\n<p>His symbolic language reminds us how much we share across cultures, and how this universal ancestral heritage can help guide us into the future. \u201cNever before have we lived in an age with more imaginary borders,\u201d Sarmiento concludes. It is art such as his that can help us see beyond them. Never before, he adds, has humanity seemed so fragile, unable to generate collective solutions. \u201cThrough my artwork, I am seeking to create classics and objects capable of holding solutions or information for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1601790\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1601790\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601790\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A gallery wall shows two small ceramic wall pieces on the left and a larger text-covered ceramic sculpture on a white pedestal to the right under the title \u201cSamuel Sarmiento: Relical Horn.\u201d\" width=\"970\" height=\"702\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg 4000w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?resize=300,217 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?resize=768,556 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?resize=635,459 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?resize=1536,1111 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?resize=2048,1482 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?resize=970,702 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?resize=320,232 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?resize=1920,1389 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?resize=50,36 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601790\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A gallery wall shows two small ceramic wall pieces on the left and a larger text-covered ceramic sculpture on a white pedestal to the right under the title \u201cSamuel Sarmiento: Relical Horn.\u201d\" width=\"970\" height=\"702\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg 4000w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?resize=300,217 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?resize=768,556 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?resize=635,459 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?resize=1536,1111 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?resize=2048,1482 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?resize=970,702 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?resize=320,232 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?resize=1920,1389 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH1.jpg?resize=50,36 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1601790\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarmiento taps into a historical record shared across cultures and communities. <span class=\"media-credit\">Courtesy of Andrew Edlin Gallery<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In &#8220;Relical Horn&#8221; at Andrew Edlin Gallery, the artist transforms ceramics into cross-cultural archetypes.<\/p>\n <a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/12\/interview-artist-samuel-sarmiento-relical-horn-andrew-edlin-gallery-new-york\/\">Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":177935360,"featured_media":1601792,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"post_tag":[423807144,423808059,423867575,423807105],"company":[423811793],"channel":[177,71859,423807430,423867218,423979941],"location":[4614,423943031],"nyo_column":[],"person":[424004988,423918380,423988121,423998283,423920446,423901098,423916368,424004989,424004990,423906466,423904831],"nyo_post_hidden":[],"coauthor":[423983686],"class_list":{"0":"post-1601773","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-artists","8":"tag-ceramics","9":"tag-exhibitions","10":"tag-sculpture","11":"observer_company-andrew-edlin-gallery","12":"channel-arts","13":"channel-art-reviews","14":"channel-galleries","15":"channel-interviews","16":"channel-interviews-with-arts-leaders","17":"location-new-york","18":"location-united-states","19":"nyo_person-samuel-sarmiento","20":"nyo_person-j-m-coetzee","21":"nyo_person-roger-caillois","22":"nyo_person-michael-meade","23":"nyo_person-jorge-luis-borges","24":"nyo_person-robert-smithson","25":"nyo_person-jared-diamond","26":"nyo_person-andrea-wulf","27":"nyo_person-hans-georg-gadamer","28":"nyo_person-carl-jung","29":"nyo_person-andrew-edlin"},"acf":{"homepage_position":"","homepage_title":"","homepage_excerpt":"","alternative_og_image":"","headline":{"seo_headline":""},"subheadline":{"optimized_seo_description":"","optimized_social_excerpt":""}},"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/12\/interview-artist-samuel-sarmiento-relical-horn-andrew-edlin-gallery-new-york\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":[],"rendered":"","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/observer.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH8.jpg?quality=80","coauthors_byline":"By Elisa Carollo","display_channel":"","thumbnail":"<img width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH8.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=300&amp;h=225&amp;crop=1\" class=\"lazyload attachment-grid-thumbnail size-grid-thumbnail\" alt=\"A gallery installation view shows multiple ceramic works arranged on the walls and two large ceramic sculptures on white pedestals, all illuminated by overhead spotlights on wooden floors. If you&#039;d prefer these written in your Observer alt-text style (more concise, more atmosphe\" decoding=\"async\" \/><noscript><img width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH8.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=300&amp;h=225&amp;crop=1\" class=\"lazyload attachment-grid-thumbnail size-grid-thumbnail\" alt=\"A gallery installation view shows multiple ceramic works arranged on the walls and two large ceramic sculptures on white pedestals, all illuminated by overhead spotlights on wooden floors. If you&#039;d prefer these written in your Observer alt-text style (more concise, more atmosphe\" decoding=\"async\" \/><\/noscript>","classes":["post-1601773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","tag-artists","tag-ceramics","tag-exhibitions","tag-sculpture","observer_company-andrew-edlin-gallery","channel-arts","channel-art-reviews","channel-galleries","channel-interviews","channel-interviews-with-arts-leaders","location-new-york","location-united-states","nyo_person-samuel-sarmiento","nyo_person-j-m-coetzee","nyo_person-roger-caillois","nyo_person-michael-meade","nyo_person-jorge-luis-borges","nyo_person-robert-smithson","nyo_person-jared-diamond","nyo_person-andrea-wulf","nyo_person-hans-georg-gadamer","nyo_person-carl-jung","nyo_person-andrew-edlin","entry-grid"],"parent_channels":"Arts, Interviews","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH8.jpg?quality=80&#038;w=300&#038;h=225&#038;crop=1","thumbnail_url_2x":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/RH8.jpg?quality=80&#038;w=600&#038;h=450","excerpt_bare":"In \"Relical Horn\" at Andrew Edlin Gallery, the artist transforms ceramics into cross-cultural archetypes.","is_sponsored":false,"formatted_date":"5 days ago","read_time":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1601773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/177935360"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1601773"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1601773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1605800,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1601773\/revisions\/1605800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1601792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1601773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_tag?post=1601773"},{"taxonomy":"observer_company","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/company?post=1601773"},{"taxonomy":"channel","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/channel?post=1601773"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=1601773"},{"taxonomy":"nyo_column","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nyo_column?post=1601773"},{"taxonomy":"nyo_person","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/person?post=1601773"},{"taxonomy":"nyo_post_hidden","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nyo_post_hidden?post=1601773"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthor?post=1601773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}