My work has involved looking at nature, particularly at rivers and rocks, creating a language of sound through water flows, and recently using solar powered water movement.
I feel this energy source references the connection of the sun to the power of the universe to move us and all its elements. Rocks are referred to by the ancestors in tribal traditions as the grandmothers, and water the blood of the earth. Bringing these two elements together has brought me back to nature in ways I cannot experience through written knowledge or scientific discovery. The artistic/technical exploration leads to unique discoveries and inventions presenting unpredictable outcomes.
The work is inspired by duality; an inherent tension between mind and heart, our interaction to life and death, and the power nature has to engage our senses. I use materials that present dualities, like having hard and soft characteristics, as water and rock do, or interacting natural and manufactured materials. Materials that harmonize yet also create opposition. I also pursue stability and imbalance to create tension between upright and fallen. Concepts will respond to the materials used and their composition may suggest a continual delicate balance.
RESUME
Sculptor and printmaker, professor, curator, and creator of participatory public art projects. Attains a master's degree in Art and Art Education from New York University and specializes in printmaking at the Arts Students League in New York City with Michael Ponce de Leon and at New York University with Krishna Reddy. Held a tenured position as a professor of printmaking and design courses at the Wellington School of Design at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand for 5 years. During that period she developed her first public sculptures, participating in Tareitanga and Kupenga, sculpture symposia, and the creation of a permanent public sculpture installation consisting of 9 bronze water sculptures in Wellingtons' Midland Park, as well as having monumental stonework at the Efildoog, public sculpture park.
In recent years in Colombia, she created different art projects with marginal groups, such as homeless children and victims of armed conflict, both reinserted soldiers, and displaced people, as well as working-class communities. Has participated in making videos and workshops to raise consciousness on the importance of integrating the creative arts as a priority in the educational curriculum in the USA, New Zealand, and Colombia. Currently, lives in Washington DC working as an art educator and an artist.
SOLO EXHIBITION and COMMISSIONS
2021 Penn branch Garden –Installation of sculptures with solar-powered water, articulated with natural and carved rock, quartz, and stones Washington DC.
2015 Anapoima First Biannual, Anapoima, Colombia, Rock Public Work
2007 Water Vigils, Obra Gallery, sculptures articulating water, varied materials. Bogota
2000 Bronze sculpture commemoration of Father Frances director of the San Carlos Private School, Bogota,
1996 "Nga Korerorero- Ongoing Dialogue" - Sculpture water fountain for Midland Park, Wellington. Design and production included seven bronze sculptures and surrounding water area.
1993 "Nga Pari Tai-Moana Seawall" - Permanent installation at Capitol Discover Place Te Aho a Maui, Wellington. This multimedia installation included wall murals, acrylic engravings, children’s drawings incorporated through workshops, plaster sculptures, and taped storytelling voiced over slide projections.
1981 Washington Square Galleries, New York City. Color etching series 1980 Galeria Garces and Velasquez, Bogota, Colombia. Colour etching series
1996 "Nga Korerorero- Ongoing Dialogue" - Sculptural water fountain for Midland Park,
Wellington. Includes seven bronze sculptures and surrounding reflecting pool.
1983 Galeria Garces and Velasquez, Bogota, Colombia. Colour etching series
1982 Washington Square Galleries, New York City. Colour etching series
SYMPOSIUMS, PROJECTS, & SELECTED GROUP SHOWS
2004 First Sculpture Bianual – University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
2002 Comemoration Simposium 400 birthday Cajica,Colombia.
2001 II Internacional Marble Sculpture Simposium - Brusque, Brazil.
2000 Sculptors encounter for Peace and a War Memorial commemorating the 50 years since the Korean War. Invited as the Colombian representative to carve a granite 3-meter sculpture for the UNESCO Cemetery commemorating the soldiers who sacrificed their lives. Pusan, Korea
2000 Cartagena Theater Festival– Monumental coral stone sculpture carved during the festival.
1999 Escultura Viva' Symposium VI - San Benedetto del Tronto, Italia \
1998 IV Stone Sculpture Symposium- Barichara, Colombia
1998 Kupenga Stone Symposium- New Plymouth, New Zealand
1997 International Festival of the Arts- Medellin, Colombia- Stone carving
1996 "H2O" Dowse Art Museum - Wellington. Two water sculptures
1995 Tareitanga Sculpture Symposium- Wellington. Oamaru stone carving
1995 "International Series" Cook Centre Hotel, Wellington. Stone carvings
1994 Seawall, Na Pari Tai Moana – permanent museum installation for Capital Discovery Children Museum, connecting the arts and science wings. Multimedia, and collaborative with community school children. Wellington, New Zealand
1990 Alzate Avendaño Contemporary Museum, Colombia. Proyecto Colombia.
1989 Lyman Art Museum, Connecticut. Contemporary Afro-American Artists.
1985 Dash & Dash Gallery, N.Y.C. Colombian Artists in New York.
1985 Galeria Sextante, Bogota. Colombian Artists in New York (simultaneous).
1985 Rockland Center for the Arts, N.Y. Multiples.
1985 Ramapo College, New Jersey. New Horizons in Printmaking.
1985 Valkomnen Pa Vernissage, Helsingborg, Sweden. 20 Printers from NYC.
1984 Colombia University, N.Y.C. Women Make Prints.
1984 Contemporary Museum of Art, Bogota, Colombia. Young Visual Artists.
1984 Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana. Women’s Art Exhibit.
1983 State University of Purchase, N.Y. Women Make Prints.
1983 Henry Street Settlement House, N.Y.C. Women Make Prints "Inside Out."
1982 Galeria Banco Central, Bogota. Group Show of Printmakers.
1981 V Bi-Annual of Latin American Graphic Arts, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
1981 V Bi-Annual of Graphic Art, Cali, Colombia.
1981 Contemporary Museum of Art, Bogota, Colombia. Young Visual Artists.
1979 Arts Students League, NYC. Group Show of Printmakers.