Mallki. 2004. Microtextiles, light box, 35mm slides, slide projectors, dissolve unit. Bronx Museum of the Arts, AIM-24 exhibit. Textile art from Peru depicts all sorts of realistic beings and an array of geometric abstractions. These textiles usually exhibit a repetitive pattern arranged within a checkerboard layout. There are slight variations in the repetition, small shifts in the grid create different versions of the pattern. Pattern replication goes through rotation, negativization, color shift and multiple partitions from one pattern to the next. These diversification process suggests new meanings, becoming itself a sort of language. The language of the changing pattern describes the forces that transform a shape into a new one. Mallki is a kechua word that has two meanings: sprout and mummy. In ancient Peru mummies were placed in a fetal position and kept in womb-shaped chambers.