Analia Saban: Flowchart

Known for merging traditional art historical practices with new technology, Analia Saban continues her exploration of textiles, painting, drawing, and sculpture through the lens of coding, memory, systems, and materiality. In Flowchart, marble sculpture, woven paintings, and hand-etched encaustic works connect the history of art and weaving to the invisible infrastructures of the digital age. 

At the entrance to the exhibition, the artist’s presence is marked by a Nero Marquina marble puffer jacket casually hanging on a hook. Referencing the material of Classical sculpture, yet carved by both the hand and the latest robotic technology, the work encapsulates a central concern in Analia Saban’s practice: the dichotomy of the hand versus the machine. In her explorations of fabric and form, she engages with the art historical tradition of drapery—a motif used from antiquity to the Renaissance to demonstrate skill, suggest movement, and embody the interplay of surface and depth. In Puffer (Patagonia, Nero Marquina), Saban takes a contemporary approach, carving an everyday winter jacket into a material steeped in history.

Through a deep engagement with new forms of technology, the exhibition connects the ancient logic of weaving to the computational systems that power contemporary life. On the back wall, three woven paintings depicting neon fan blades evoke the energy and heat generated by the massive servers that power today’s digital networks, from online shopping to artificial intelligence. On the adjacent walls, Saban presents Flowcharts depicting a visual algorithmic process – with instructions for how to “make a painting” – echoing the inputs that structure AI technologies. Her materials reflect the duality in these works: white encaustic made of beeswax, resin, and pigment layered with black oil stick is then carved back to reveal gestural marks of the artist’s hand. The illustrated prompts unfold as flowcharts mapping how to depict anatomy, hands, drapery, and gesture. 

In the upstairs gallery, Saban merges weaving methods with early digital systems by combining the binary structure of a magnetic-core memory, the building blocks of early computers, with the grid of a loom. Reimagined as sculptural frames, these works transpose patterns of twill and plaid into textiles woven with dried acrylic paint, acting as threads. By comparing these foundational systems, Saban reveals similarities between cloth patterning, binary code, and the technologies that administer daily life.

Related to the works in the downstairs gallery, five tapestries depict blank flowcharts. Their elusive organization and hidden forms create a playful invitation for viewers to decipher, while their materiality deconstructs and re-invents conventional painting elements. Saban creates these textile works by interlacing linen threads as warp with long strips of dried, yet pliable acrylic paint as the weft. In the next room, a grid of 18 laser-carved notebook pages brings the intimate space of her studio notes into the gallery. Each sheet, meticulously engraved, brings together the language and vocabulary of Saban’s working process in sculptural form.