Zambrano paper shoe collection 2010
Shoes are not just a mean of locomotion and protection, they are also means of communication and an expression of custom and history. Shoes not only reflect social history, they are a personal record of our lives that evokes a time, a place, and emotions. As mementos of occasions on which they were worn, shoes preserve the past and keep memories alive, as those in a photo albums, from a child's first shoe immortalized in bronze to the wedding slippers kept in their original state.
Psychologist have vigorously explored the hidden meaning of shoes from phallic symbols to secret vessels. Some say that a woman who collects shoes is a frustrated traveler; others suggest she is symbolically searching for enlightenment; in any case shoes have always fascinated men and women alike (for very different reasons). Shoes can be seen as sexual objects, objects of art, objects of affection… shoes are a force for change, a means of shedding the past and buying into the future. For much of history women's shoes were kept in the dark, concealed beneath a skirt but, at the same time, they were and still are one of the most revealing signs of who the wearer is.
