Commemorating the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Christie’s presents multi-media artist Elena del Rivero’s never-before-seen collection of gelatin silver print photocollages from her studio-home that was located in the place now known as Ground Zero. These prints depict and incorporate what Rivero found in the ruins upon returning to her studio after the attacks; salvaged postcards from the walls, remnants of her own photography, canvases and other materials that she delicately stitched together with thread and gauze, all uncovered in the dust.

The photocollages are the final component of Rivero’s larger body of work, The Archive of Dust: An Ongoing Project, opening for exhibition in Spain at Es Baluard Museu d’Art Contemporani de Palma on September 11 of this year. Del Rivero’s oeuvre speaks to the collective loss, memory and pain of those touched by the events of 9/11.

“Through the archive comes knowledge. I have learned so many things working with my personal archive, because it has helped me to understand others and to understand the pain of people who have lost everything. I had been working with the remains from my studio. And with those remains, I built a new life” —Elena del Rivero.