PARCELA TABLE BY ALDO ÁLVAREZ TOSTADO
The Parcela (Haywood) (2024) lounge table is composed of a steel tabletop shaped to represent a parcel of land that forms an ejido, an agricultural commons retained by the Mexican state for the use of indigenous rural communities. Horsehair, associated with the overtly masculine vaquero status symbol of the horse, appears to support the steel surface. This juxtaposition of rigid, industrial steel with sensuous horsehair symbolises the enduring yet fragile patriarchal narratives in Mexican culture. Vaqueros are often celebrated as icons of strength and honour in conquering, and toiling on, the land. Parcela (Haywood) invites us to reconsider these mythic figures and the cultural legacy they impose through the tension of the two materials.




