Description
Some objects seem to carry fragments of cultural history. This Swimmer Boy with Float, created by Spanish artist Carmen Roncero, is more than a figure – it is a scene captured from a time that many remember.
During the 1960s and 70s, summer holidays in Spain and across the Mediterranean began to change. Families packed their cars with striped umbrellas, sandwiches wrapped in foil, and oversized floats that smelled of warm rubber. The classic black tire float, often recycled from old inner tubes, became a symbol of those childhood summers. Heavy and clumsy, yet protective, it was both a toy and a shield against the immensity of water.
This handmade ceramic sculpture portrays a boy in a patterned swimsuit, swim cap, and flippers that look slightly too big for his feet. His posture feels patient, almost shy — the moment of pause before diving into a river or sea. A gesture that anyone who grew up by the water can recall: the hesitation, the excitement, the silent countdown.
What makes this contemporary art sculpture remarkable is not just its tender details, but the way it speaks to collective memory. It recalls the scent of sunscreen, the weight of wet towels, the sound of distant laughter and the anticipation of a first swim.
Carmen Roncero transforms fleeting memories into enduring clay. Her sculptures are not about technical perfection but about emotional truth: familiar gestures, textures, and colors that echo like a childhood photograph.
Displayed at home, this piece is more than decoration — it is a companion to memory, a poetic presence that evokes summers lived slowly, with a boy in a swim cap, flippers, and a float that seemed big enough to hold the sea itself.
Face to face with Carmen Roncero
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This post is also available in: Spanish
