En la Punta de la Lengua
MAC Quinta Normal, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Santiago de Chile
26 Septiembre 2026- 24 Enero 2027
Installation View, Transcripción N 14
Transcripción N14, 2026
For her Transcripcións series, Sánchez uses notes from a conversation with a friend during the COVID-19 pandemic. Transcribed by hand and then cut and twisted in acrylic, she gives physical form to this exchange and employs them like sculptural material to create constellations of words. The conversation is broken down line by line, word by word to the point where they are almost illegible. Suspended in the air, they appear floating around us and our movement creates new dialogues and associations through the different combinations of words we encounter.
Lizi Sànchez
Máscaras, 2026
6-channel sound installation
4’32”, loop
Courtesy of the artist
Voices: Lyda Jadresić Samsing, Ana Kazaroff, Fran Olivares, Aranzazú Fernandez Rangel, Lizi Sánchez, Carolina Vallejo
Composers: Lizi Sánchez y Leo Garbutt
Sound engineer: Leo Garbutt
The artist’s ideas for new works often stem from literature and poetry. Her new sound installation, Máscaras, is inspired by the life and legacy of Peruvian poet, writer and feminist activist Magda Portal (1900-1989). Sánchez was particularly drawn to Portal’s 1927 poem “Tramos de Luz”, which was a reflection on the poet’s personal and political life. The artist also conjures Portal’s spirit to bring awareness to her connection to Chile and solidarity with the struggle for women’s rights in the country. The sound piece features six women's voices spelling out the poem’s final paragraph–one voice layering over another, gradually becoming a singular incantation that calls for collective liberation.
En La Punta de la Lengua
There is power in language. Words can ascribe meaning, convey thoughts and feelings, construct our sense of reality, and offer connection. On the other hand, words can fail us—an expression that memory struggles to recall, forever on the tip of the tongue. The way we communicate can also be misunderstood or manipulated far beyond our control.
Artist Lizi Sánchez is interested in how language is constantly changing and evolving, with definitions shifting depending on who uses them and why. This exhibition examines the space between meaning and context in language— drawing from daily conversations to the work of Peruvian poet Madga Portal (1900-1989) —and its intimate relationship to memory and the body.
In Transcripción N14, hundreds of words are suspended in the air, layered and intertwined throughout the gallery. As visitors move through the space, their physical paths generate endless new associations and meanings. The installation Máscaras permeates the exhibition with sound, where a repetition of letters spelt out by six invisible voices evokes Portal’s spirit.
By deconstructing text into physical forms and spoken fragments, Sánchez creates a rich sensory experience that reinforces the weight of language across both past and present.
Suzanna Petot, exhibition curator. 2026