Temuco, Chile, 1961

The distant Chilean past spiritually nourishes Saldías' art. La Araucanía, a name meaning "where the Araucanos live" and used by the Spaniards to refer to the Mapuche people, is the region where Temuco is situated and where Saldías was born in March 1965. The sculptor boasts 30 years of experience, during which he has endeavored to decipher his essence through an alchemical process between metal and stone.

His work is deeply rooted in regional ethnic cultures. From this foundation, he expands his studies to familiarize himself with various cultures of Chile and the world. He is convinced that the past harbors vital information that has not transcended to the present. Rather than fostering a direct dialogue with the forces of nature, we interrogate science in laboratories. In his workshop, he primarily works with steel and quarry stone, where he recreates his anthropological concerns by incorporating figurative elements into abstract solutions.

Some of his pieces reference the Selknam people, native to the large island of Tierra del Fuego. This community was persecuted by ranchers and landowners and has nearly disappeared. Some of his works are inspired by the scant surviving photographs of these southern nomadic hunters. Saldías has also drawn inspiration from the renowned Altamira cave pictograms, the Taira petroglyphs, among others. From 1995 to 2022, he has held over thirty exhibitions, both solo and group shows, notably achieving great success with those in Hong Kong between 2014 and 2017, among many other significant exhibitions in his home country.

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