Edna

Posted on July 19, 2015 by 365Artists/365Days

Edna 2014
Acrylic on paper. Laminated in plastic.
49 X 32 cm

Briefly describe the work you do.

I am interested in that which is broken; the unfinished that never ends because it keeps changing; the “mistake“, the recycled, undrawn drawing, mixed techniques; the fragile; the small; introspection. I mainly works with acrylic, mixed techniques and collage. Literatura is a strong influence in my creations.

Sometimes I laminate my work in plastic, intending that the works float freely in space without the limitations of a frame. In a recent series we see that the characters turn into animals, symbols of what they really are. The presence of void and death as the main motors for transformation is a fixed value in my work.

I want my art has honesty, perseverance, perpetual change, the amazement, experimentation in the different techniques that reflect the profound curiosity I feel for myself and the world I am part of.

Tell us about your background and how that has had an influence on your work and on you as an artist.

I undertook a Literature diploma, I was practicing Chi Kung around that time, I was also doing pottery and clay sculpture. Art, science, music, literature, have always been present at home. My parents value art, and what is more, they live it.

The concept of the artist studio has a broad range of meanings in contemporary practice. Artists may spend much of their time in the actual studio, or they may spend very little time in it. Tell us about your individual studio practice and how it differs from or is the same as traditional notions of “being in the studio.”

I like to be lonely and yes, I spend time in the studio, I firmly believe that being in touch with myself is the best way to communicate something real, and to contact with another human being. I also believe in the transformative power of art and that we are a unit that any action that transforms me somehow transforms the world.

I like to travel when I can, to be in contact with people and learn from other realities it seems vital to me.

Edna 2013
Mixed media on papers. Laminated in plastic.
68 X 55 cm

What roles do you find yourself playing that you may not have envisioned yourself in when you first started making art?

The artist’s books, I did not know what it was when I started my work.

When do you find is the best time to make art? Do you set aside a specific time everyday or do you have to work whenever time allows?

I work every day, I prefer the afternoon, sometimes I work even in weekends, I am a little work alcoholic. But when I begin to repeat I need to stop for a while… I rest being in nature, cooking, reading. I really like sleeping but sometimes I have to wake up because a persistent idea is bothering.

Edna 2015
Mixed media on paper. Laminated in plastic.
83 X 65 cm

How has your work changed in the past five years? How is it the same?

The ideas are the same, but my work changed, before, the image was more invisible, prior the drawing was more intimated and now is more present.

How have people such as family, friends, writers, philosophers, other artists or even pop icons had an impact on the work you do?

My parents value art, and what is more, they live it.

My father is a pediatrician surgeon and I was allergic to medication, and this encouraged my parents to look for other alternatives. This has become decisive to me, thanks to my parent’s heritage and my mother’s

tireless spirit, the discovery of humanism, transpersonal psychology, Taoism, quantum physics, alternative medicine, meditation, and all that seeks for the integration of mind, body, spirit, and soul as a whole and in connection with a greater Whole. I may say that my work as artist is imbued with this life choice and with this insistent search to be that whom I am destined to be. My grandfather he used to like music, poetry, that he had a deep religiosity and curiosity for the invisible on oneself and the world.

Antonio Acosta, a painter, astrologer, and a true warrior in the path of self-discovery, was my first inspiration and real and close reference of art as a way of life and an occupation.

When my eldest sister, to whom I am strongly attached, went away to study music in Morelia, I found myself alone. This was the main reason that drove me to enter the Art School, I was looking for company. Funnily enough, I had to finish my studies there if I wished to pursue a professionally career in art.

Companions in my life have been the love and wonder I feel for words and the power that I deem they have. My mother and I recall that I have loved reading out loud since I was a child and thus I would follow her up and

down the house to read to her. I once asked her: what a funny word! who might have invented it? Language is still a mystery to me. Literature has also been one of the treasures I have held dear through my life and one that gives meaning to it.

Having seen the film Orlando, based on the novel by Virginia Woolf, Juan Gelman’s poetry. Goya, Toulouse, Remedios Varo.

Have you ever been pulled in the direction of a pursuit other than being an artist? What are your other interests? 

Cooking, once I worked in a restaurant, I have ideas for food. I like teaching , interact with kids, I learn more. I was interested in studying psychology, also I’m curious and like the zoology , biology.., photography. I like to travel.

About

Edna Cantoral Acosta was born in Mexico City, 1976. She studied in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, where she currently works. In 1996 she obtained the Sogem diploma in literary creation. She undertook undergraduate studies in plastic arts at the University of Guadalajara. (1998-2001). She took classes with artists and in the engraving workshop of Herculano Álvarez during the period between 2002-2003. She was granted a scholarship to study at the ENSAD, Paris, during the period from October 2004 to August 2005.

She has participated in 67 collective exhibitions in Guadalajara, Mexico city, Argentina, Spain, N.York, Georgia , Japon, London. Recent exhibitions are: “THE ARTERNATIVE PLAYGROUND”, 3th to 6th sept, 2015, The Rag Factory, London;

” PEQUEÑO FORMATO INVERSIÓN ATRACTIVA VIII“, 22 de august to 22 sept, 2015 at Galería Adriana Valdés, Gdl, Jalisco; La Carnivale, The New Bohemian Gallery, Minnesota, 3 to 25 july 2015; Identity/Memory, Gallery on the Corner, London, 13 to 23 June 2015; Una Vida/ A life, excolegiojesuita.mx, Pátzcuaro, Mich, México, 12sept-19 oct, 2014; HEROES AND VILLAINS , ARC Gallery and Educational Foundation, 25 June to 19 july, 2014, Chicago; FOLIA , 1rst   International Artist Book Fair, Instituto Cultural Cabañas, February 2014 and Favor de Tocar, Larva , Nov- December 2013, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, both organized by: Liabooks; “Derroteros”, Galería Adriana Valdés, Guadalajara;   “The Artful Scriptorium”, Climate Gallery , N.York ; “Passion for Freedom”, Unit 24 Gallery, London;   ART TAKES TIMES SQUARE, Chashama and Artists Wanted, Nueva York; LA ELOCUENCIA DEL ARTE, Galería Adriana Valdés (december 2012 ) at Guadalajara, Jalisco; I’S SHES HERS and OURS, I-SHO Gallery, Edwards Lane , London, 2011; Redux , Desotorow Gallery, Inc. Savannah, Georgia, April, 2010. Edna carried out 11 individual ones, one of them being the Signature of the artist book “Homenaje a Juan Gelman /Hommage à Juan Gelman” at the Hune Brenner Gallery in Paris. Another individual exhibition: “Ventana Compartida” (Shared window), at Galería Ajolote (Gallery Axolotl), Contemporary Art in Guadalajara.

She took part in the book “Arte Euroamericano” volumes 3 and 4 and in the art magazine Casiopea # 12 (www.revistacasiopea.com), Guadalajara, México.

Edna has participated with artwork in the project: http://telephone.satellitepress.org/, New York, 2013 -2014.

She was represented by Agora Gallery, Chelsea, New York City. The year: 2008

She is a member of the International Miniart Exchange group since 2007 and she take part in the 2008 edition (www.miniartex.org) as well as in the exhibition: “Your Documents Please” International Identification Document exhibition (http://www.yourdocumentsplease.com )

An engraving by Edna belongs to the collection: “Lolita Rubial” Foundation. Engraving National Museum, Uruguay.

One book : Homenaje a Juan Gelman is part of the collection of Standford University, 2014.

ednacantoralacosta.com

All images copyright of the artist and used with their permission. 

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