Signos Cardinales

Two black-and-white photographs of bare legs and feet standing on white. Fine ink lines climb the shins like rivers and roads, small marks and words tracing the long way each woman walked.
A white gallery corner lined with life-size black-and-white photographs of bare legs, cut off at the knee and standing in a row along the floor, as if a line of women had just stepped into the room. The polished concrete floor holds their pale reflections.
Title
Signos Cardinales
Artist
Libia Posada
Date
2025
Description
Photographs of the legs and feet of displaced women in Medellín, Colombia, by Colombian artist and physician Libia Posada, each marked with an inked map of the journey that took the woman from her home. The maps trade compass points for right and left and measure distance in strides, recording displacement as it is carried in the body. Posada first exhibited Signos Cardinales in 2009; this version was shown in Weather and the Whale at the Institute of the Arts and Sciences, UC Santa Cruz.
Artwork Type
Photography
Installation
Materiality
Photographic Materials
Ink
Climate & Ecology Themes
Migration and Displacement
Loss and Damage
Concepts
Embodiment and the Senses
Memory and History
Place and Belonging
Methods & Approaches
Storytelling / Narrative Practice
Community-Based Practice
Audience / Engagement Type
Public / General Audience
Location
Institute of the Arts and Sciences, 100 Panetta Ave, Santa Cruz, California
Geographic Scope
International / Global
Rights
Rights held by artist or creator
Website
IAS artist page
Affiliated Organizations
Weather and the Whale
UCSC Institute of the Arts and Sciences
Discipline / Field
Arts & Design
Item sets
California Art & Climate Archive
UC Santa Cruz
Media
Two black-and-white photographs of bare legs and feet standing on white. Fine ink lines climb the shins like rivers and roads, small marks and words tracing the long way each woman walked.Libia Posada, Signos Cardinales (detail)
A white gallery corner lined with life-size black-and-white photographs of bare legs, cut off at the knee and standing in a row along the floor, as if a line of women had just stepped into the room. The polished concrete floor holds their pale reflections.Libia Posada, Signos Cardinales