Elia Alba's Fabric-Wrapped Busts Challenge Sculptural Conventions at Black & White Gallery

Between December 10, 2009, and January 17, 2010, Elia Alba showcased her busts at Black & White Gallery in New York City. These pieces featured photo transfers on fabric that enveloped metal armatures. The grey-tan fabric, with its fleshy appearance, conjured unsettling associations and distorted facial representations. Alba's method involved wrapping photo-tattooed fabric, fastened with visible lacing, which obscured full visibility of the faces. The models displayed both clothed and bare-chested forms, with the color in the transfers limited to accentuating the lips. Notably, the 2009 work "James & Rocio" included a male bust with an ear linked to a female bust, alluding to serial killer Ed Gein, and resonated more with Matisse and Picasso than traditional Roman busts, highlighting fragmented perception and tension between photography and sculpture.