Removed Landscapes
Luisa Valderrama
Removed Landscapes is a solo exhibition by Chashama’s Immigrant Artist Fellow Luisa Valderrama.
Landscape is in constant flux. It cannot be static as it embodies the interaction between cultural and natural processes. The constant change is driven by factors such as globalization, urbanization, natural disasters, technological developments, as well as changing cultural values. Moreover, landscape impacts how individuals perceive and appreciate their surroundings, shaping their ability to connect with their everyday environments. Likewise, one’s relations to land provide us with a sense of belonging. Not the classic interpretation delivered from ownership as understood within the logic of capital, but contrary to proprietorship, a more spiritual sense of belonging: An awareness closer to sentiment for the land, related to a profound feeling of attachment.
The connections between landscape and identity are fundamental to the understanding of human sense of belonging. Alterations to this system affect how people perceive themselves. This is why one feels anguished when a loved setting is altered out of recognition. As the world moves forward, contemporary landscape stands situated in a world characterized by increasing mobility. Being part of disembodied global dynamics undermines local place identity. Removed Landscapes reflects on the uncertainty generated through global flows and resulting landscape change. Naturally, identities undergo constant rewriting, but can one move fast enough without losing their sense of place?
About the artist
Luisa Valderrama was born in Colombia and lives in Brooklyn, New York. She holds an MFA in Sculpture from Pratt Institute with honors (2018), a BFA in Painting and Drawing, and a BA in Art History from Los Andes University, Colombia (2014). Her work draws on her experience of living between rural and urban environments in Colombia, where she grew up. She is a recipient of an NYFA 2019 Mentoring Program (NY), a 2019 thematic residency at RU-Residency Unlimited (NY), 2019 MASS MoCA Resident (MA) a 2019 Marble House Residency (VT), and a Sculpture Space residency for 2021 (NY), amongst others. Additionally, she was a 2020 Engaging Artists Fellow at More Art in NYC. She has participated in numerous exhibitions in Colombia and New York and collaborates with 4-18, a nonprofit community-based art organization in Colombia. Solo exhibitions: Hato [’a.to] in Steuben Gallery at Pratt Institute, 2018. Selected projects and group exhibitions include Murcielago no es Pajaro at The Museum of the city of Yopal, curated by Sebastian Carrasco, 2021; Mediated Mediations curated by Niama Sandy, 2019; Boiling Point at The Boiler Pierogi in 2018 curated by Regine Basha. Half a Wave at the Pfizer Building in Brooklyn curated by Christine Rebhuhn, 2018; The Latin American Contemporary Fine Art Competition, New York, 2018; and Crossings, at El Sótano Art Space, Brooklyn, 2018.
For more information about Luisa visit her website here, or follow her on Instagram.
