Work commenting on fragility and the delicate nature of the psyche.

Untitled

Through this piece, I wanted to express my thoughts on the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic and how it had affected people's lives and, specifically, mental health.

The artwork consists of a large sterling silver, double-pin brooch, with elements representing a cityscape, a window or isolating room, the horizon and a small branching structure (called a "spike glycoprotein") that protrudes from the main spherical body of the Coronavirus, as depicted in media. The brooch was designed around a partial spherical shape, representing the earth and the shape of the Coronavirus. I have used texture as a way to show the feeling of separation and ‘other’ felt by people during the pandemic.

Isolation, loneliness, alienation, the fear of the crowds... these are the themes I wanted to touch on through this piece as the world experienced one of the most turbulent and polarising events of the 21st century.

Isolate, Alienate

The Soul Sculpture Bench is a mesmerizing piece of furniture that captures the beauty of the universe. Its spiraling design evokes galaxies and DNA strands, symbolizing our interconnectedness.

Sit on this captivating bench to find serenity and contemplate nature’s wisdom. Whether placed indoors or outdoors, it infuses any space with wonder and harmony.

Experience its transformative energy and embark on a journey of self-discovery and connection.

SOUL SCULPTURE BENCH IN COR-TEN STEEL

Like the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland or the pinnacles of Cape Raoul in Tasmania, Australia, the pendant represents the rock formations known as Columnar Jointing - a result of the cooling and fracturing of flowing lava.

Standing strong against the elements, these columns were shaped over thousands of years by their environment, analogous to the weathering humans endure to evolve and reach for greater heights in their lives.

Columnar

Porcelanica 1

SOUL SCULPTURE BENCH IN MARBLE

Exclusively designed for a collector in Vale do Lobo, Portugal’s luxurious area, Unity Lobo brings balance and harmony to any space.

Its captivating form represents our essence, evoking wisdom and igniting our inner power.

Let Unity Lobo inspire your true potential and embrace life’s beauty.

UNITY LOBO

Step into a world of art and architecture, where time tells its story in cor-ten steel.

UNITYGAIA Monumental Sculpture, a collaboration with visionary architect Vasco Vieira, embodies humanity’s strength and wisdom.

Its presence brings harmony and awe to Madrid’s La Finca neighborhood, inspiring all who see it.

UNITY GAIA

This magnificent sculpture stands as a singular masterpiece within a series of three sculptures. Crafted from white cast aluminum with meticulous attention to detail, the sculpture is infused with love and spirituality. Exclusively designed for a special project by the renowned landscaper Fernando Pozuelo, these sculptures embody tranquility, introspection, and honor. A timeless and heartfelt tribute to your cherished loved ones.

ROMA PRESENT

ROMA PAST

Menstruar es la única sangre no violenta que produce una persona, como parte de su proceso biológico.

Y, sí! ahora vienen varios peros, cómo entiendes que es un proceso tan tuyo, cuándo una vez que menstruas la sociedad tiene mentalizado que YA eres mujer y estás lista para ser madre, cuándo en la mayoría de ocasiones no conoces tu cuerpo!
Entonces, antes qué somos? y después qué somos?.

La educación sexual está enfocada en la abstinencia o en llenarle a la mujer de una gran cantidad de métodos anticonceptivos que muchas veces fallan y sin tomar en cuenta todas alteraciones hormonales que eso causa. Cuando ella puede tener un embarazo en 9 meses, mientras que un hombre podría generar un embarzo diario duranto esos 9 meses.

Una mujer menstrúa un promedio de 30 años, yo ya llevo unos 15 y no quiero tener hijxs.

Hace 4 años, cuando empecé a utilizar la copa menstrual toda la dinámica cambió, y me hice amiga de mi menstruación. Pero antes de la copa deseaba tanto tener una menopasuia "prematura" para no sangrar más.


Estoy menstruando

3 channel video installation, immersive with ambient sound

Nature Morte

Aer Nullius

3 channel video installations an  immersive experience with ambient sound

Tellus Nullius

This work talks about nature and it’s recurrent rhythms and patterns 

Agrimonies

A photographic series where you find voices, faces, spaces around the world, in a virtual journey.

Pandemic invaded the whole world, but each person has the own way to live it and feel coronavirus, of expressing their inner and outer self, in the different corners of the planet.

During coronavirus it is not possible to travel in the “normal mood”, nor you can hug friends or family as we used to, but it is possible to have new experiences through technology. So, I thought I would travel around the world a little bit and meet new people. Of course, I didn’t leave my house, or even my room, to arrive other countries, other continents.

Maybe, quality is not the best one, so I call “visiting cards” as Disderí call his portraits which were maden in a studio, the pictures were madden in a very peculiar size 54mm x 89mm, I take this the name “visiting” because this travel becomes in a visit, time changes, time comes back, I do not use chemical, but I have limits because of technical part.

Despite all the above, something wonderful happened… I have met beautiful people who have revealed a little bit of their universes, allowed me to go to the special place of their home. They expressed their emotions. Many of them agreed that, during the confinement, they had more time for themselves, their partners, or their important members of their lives and they thank it. There was also an intense feeling of missing the physical contact, like a hug from mom, or greeting the neighbor at the door and somehow going through a time of tension and calm.

Virtually I met a traveler neighbor of Peru, I arrived to faraway Indonesia, I passed through Germany, Poland, Argentina, Netherlands, Denmark, Costa Rica, and each place, a human being living corona time. I applied a particular way of taking photos, which on this occasion was not the purpose of the giant photograph, it was not the point.

Thanks to all people who share their time and universe with me.

Universes

The intention of this series is to show people as sensitive beings. The impulse that people have to express their freedom, their emotions, I somehow rescue it from some of the mental and emotional connections of my characters through self-portraiture.
During the confinement, many moods and thoughts manifested themselves, which perhaps, before, we didn’t know in ourselves. Or we simply didn’t have the opportunity to understand them.
Some characters knew depression or fear, others were tired of confinement, while some took this time to reinvent themselves, to deal with their demons, but some lived in hope. It’s not about judging, it’s about respect, maybe you don’t fully understand the people around you, or yourself, but the valid thing is to achieve a harmonious coexistence.
In short, it has been a difficult time for some, relieved of the daily pressure, away from home, for others a time of calm, the truth is that each person has a story and therefore their way of adapting or not adapting to these drastic situations where “normality” has changed.

Quarantined Characters

 Até Logo it is a work based on the search for understanding the feelings related to life and death. Presented in 10x15 cm glass, supported by two nails, it presents the fragility of the memory of time, referring to the format popularly used in photographic enlargements of family albums from the mid-20th century. Made in 2019-2020.

Title translation: See you soon

For seeing more images of this work access the link below.

Até logo

“Has there ever been something you really wanted to tell someone but never said?
Would you like to say something anonymously? Your life history, a love letter, a letter of doubts and questions ....?

In Correspondências I receive anonymous letters ”


The series Correspondências is made with forty-nine anonymous letters. Received in 2020 through the Internet through a form available online, each correspondence is laser engraved on a mirror measuring 30x20 cm.

Assembly: each mirror will have its individual frame of measures 33x23x3.5 cm approximately, made in light color wood, with white LEDs inside, since the engraved mirror allow a certain luminosity to pass through the letters, requiring a source of light in the background. The leds will be connected to a power plug from a cable that can come out either from the back of the frame without being visible, or from the bottom if it is not possible to use a false wall to hide the wire. The various correspondences can be exposed both individually and in groups. 

For better experience seeing the letters please access the link below

Correspondências

O tempo que parou agora passa (translation: The time that has stopped now goes by) is a series made in 2020, composed of GIF's that brings a movement to a static photographic image using programming codes made through the "Processing" platform.
The series has an open aspect in the sense that it will continue to be updated with new works to be included over time.

For better view experience of the GIFs access the website listed below



O tempo que parou agora passa

What is the Internet? According to surveys carried out in online search engines in a few minutes, through the Internet itself, it is possible to find an answer similar to this: “The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use their own set of protocols (Internet Protocol Suite or TCP / IP) with the purpose of progressively serving users worldwide. ” Since the creation of the first websites, users put different types of information on websites daily and many of those are forgotten or even lost in this digital medium. It is possible to enter old sites from institutions such as the Internet Archive, access profiles on social networks which we forget passwords and do not have access to it anymore, find distant family members through searches on specific websites or even with search engines that collect specific information through key words in milliseconds and deliver the results to the user on the internet.
	From this concept of storage and data forgotten on the internet, the idea for this project began to take shape. Techneae is a series currently in progress that presents a new kingdom that comes from the digital medium, the name comes from the term techne (from the Greek technology). Each species of this digital kingdom has it’s medium as augmented reality, also has its own characteristics and a catalog card with it’s specifics.


They are currently available for viewing through filters in this instagram profile (it is necessary to follow to see through this link): https://www.instagram.com/outsidethemind/?hl=pt-br


Currently the series will continue to be updated with new works to be included over time.The first is the one with the image above, made in 2020.
In the website listed below you can find animated GIFs that shows the augmented reality working.

Techneae

VERÓNICA PEÑA
with TARA GLADDEN

"The Water Tank Sessions I"

Long-Distance Live Online Collaboration
Live Underwater Performance (IN) + Live Sound (MD)
Hosted online by Grace Exhibition Space, NY
November 20, 2020

THE WATER TANK SESSIONS, curated by Verónica Peña, is a new series of long-distance audio-visual collaborations that invites professional musicians, singers, and sound artists to play and improvise while being inspired by the vision of the submerged human body.

For the first enactment of the series, invited sound artist Tara Gladden and underwater performance artist Verónica Peña collaborate live from different states of the U.S. Hosted by Grace Exhibition Space, NYC, using a digital online platform, the artists present the audience with a unique auditory and visual experience that combines hypnotic sounds with the enchanting vision of the suspended body.

THE WATER TANK SESSIONS wants to foster collaboration among artists in order to promote joy, togetherness, and creativity from our homes. By bringing artists together, and generating distinct audiovisual experiences for the audience, the project wants to help palliate the solitude, sadness, and hard daily circumstances created by the pandemic.

http://www.veronicapena.com
http://www.instagram.com/veronica_pen...
http://www.ctaragladden.org

The Water Tank Sessions

Produced during the Quarantine of 2020, it presents two plans, that of the object and the window, represent the subject - the private space - and the collective - the space outside - looking beyond the confinement situation.
Each photo in this series has it own title, beign an important part of the whole project.
For better view experience and to access the whole series, please open the website listed below

Quarentena

Introduction:
HECTOR CANONGE & VERÓNICA PEÑA are performance artists working at the convergence of various disciplines. Peña (Spain/USA) and Canonge (American, born in Argentina) live and work in the United States. Though living in different states, they have been collaborating in various projects internationally since 2016. Their long distance collaborations, Peña in Indiana and Canonge in New York City, reflect their mutual connection, understanding, and mediation as a way to communicate with one another. Instead of an obstacle, distance has been a mode of production to find alternatives for their creative process.

Project description:
LAZOS (Entanglements) is a work of performance art in which we question interpersonal communications, human correspondence, and gender stereotypes through a set of various polarities, such as: attraction / repulsion, familiarity / strangeness, similar / distinct, and strength / frailty. Through corporal actions and slow movements, we interact by dismantling the fabric helmets that mask our facial identities. First in silence and then following the sounds of Indian chants mixed with techno beats, we establish a dialogue that challenges socially constructed gender stereotypes and norms of communication.

As a collaborative work, LAZOS (Entanglements) brings to the stage our practice in Performance Art, Dance, and Visual Arts. Coming from different disciplines has allowed us to explore and create our own style in the performances we develop and present. Our work integrates our own cultural backgrounds, and reflects upon our differences and similarities in relation to the themes we raise, question, and evoke. Working together allows us to dialog about controversial topics, to negotiate our different opinions, and to contemplate new perspectives for creative possibilities. Our collaborative process starts with images, thoughts, words, sounds that later evolve into full experiential performances that often blur the lines of performance, dance, and physical theater. For five years, we have been collaborating and presenting our projects in museums, galleries, theaters, and public sites in the United States, Europe and Latin America. LAZOS (Entanglements) is a project that allowed us to further explore notions of power, gender relations, and communication that afflict our contemporary society.

Biography:
HECTOR CANONGE & VERÓNICA PEÑA met in 2014 during their participation at the Month of Performance Art in Berlin. After presenting work independently in the United States, and coinciding in various programs in Europe and Latin America, they decided to collaborate in a series of works exploring themes of identity, migration, intercultural exchange, and human cohesion. As collaborators, since 2016, they presented their work in the United States and abroad. In New York City, they have performed: Groovink in Art In Odd Places Festival; Lazos (Entanglements) at Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, and Last Frontier NYC; De lo Sano (of the Sane) at Knockdown Center, De lo Posible (of Possibilities) at Triskelion Arts; De lo Ajeno (of Others) at Queens Museum, and Rabbithole; De lo Lejano (of the Distant) at Panoply Performance Lab; and De Lo Nuestro (of Ours) at The Woods Cooperative. Their collaborative work was shown in their exhibition UNDER OUR SKIN: Body and Territory in Performance Art at the Patti and Rusty Rueff Gallery, Purdue University, Indiana; and HORIZONTES (Horizons), at Salisbury University Art Galleries, Maryland, United States. In Spain, as part of their project Derivas y Jornadas, they presented their work at Fundación BilbaoArte, Bilbao; Festival Intramurs, Valencia; Tabacalera, Madrid; La Grey Gallery; Tarragona; and La Gota de Leche, Logroño, among others. In Portugal, they performed at Zaratan Arte Contemporânea, and at Ana Lama Gallery. In 2018, their performance work was featured at La Friche la Belle de Mai, Marseille, France, and they were invited to create an installation for the land art residency program Arte en la Tierra, La Rioja, Spain. The artists are currently working in an upcoming catalogue of their work to be introduced in a future exhibition in 2021.

Important: Please, for higher resolution images contact us at veronicapemaratgmaildotcom and hectorcanongeatgmaildotcom.


LAZOS (Entanglements)

screen memories 

Sigmund Freud called “screen memories“ a particular kind of childhood memories. He distinguished between apparently indifferent and circumstantial childhood memories, and those which he identified as striking, important and emotionally relevant. In this process, the latter are veiled by those less significant memories, and according to Freud, this effect can be attributed to a resistance in the conscious reproduction of memories. This can lead to mistakes and falsification of those recalls. 

For this project I dealt with this idea and tried to find out to which extent photography can help creating, altering or falsifying memory itself. In the series I narrate a personal conflict with my father’s absence. Our relationship ended when I was 12 years old, and some time ago I realised there aren’t any pictures left from our time together. My memories of him were kind of blurred, and the fact that I couldn’t revive those shared moments through images, made it easier for those recalls to vanish and be forgotten. 

Through my research, different questions about the relationship between photography and memories came out, like what happens to those memories that were not kept in pictures?; what happens when we look at a picture depicting someone who at this present time became almost a total stranger?; or can we bring back – or even change – our own feelings towards an absent person through photographs? Following this approach, I staged the memories I still have from my father in new photographs , I staged photographs I remember there was once from him or from moments with him, and I also created photographs with false memories along the way, in an attempt to see if my own memories could be refreshed or altered, as if I were provoking my own “screen memories” intentionally. I played with the colours and the texture of analog photography that was usual when I was a child. For that purpose, I shooted in film in 35 mm and experimented with the materiality of photography.

This project is being exhibited till the 16th of October at #Raum für Drastische Maßnahmen part of the #European Month of Photography Berlin 2016.

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