Introduction
Born in Brasilia, spent 16 months in Melbourne (2001-2002) and 3 years in Barcelona (2004-2007).
Living and learning/making jewellery as a foreigner made me aware of things that in my natural environment I am not. I felt uncomfortable and dealt with it through the making.
Many times I felt my own presence harder to bear and bumped into otherwise numb boundaries all the time. The overall process was very intense and the work done under those circumstances is significant.
Anyway, living abroad has always been a meeting with the stranger in the mirror. Curiously, the longest the absence of sunlight, the strangest I have met myself.
Hi Thelma,
My name is Mariana. I was born in Mexico, lived in Montreal, CA, and for the past 2 years in Providence , RI, where I recently graduated from my MFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing at Rhode Island School of Design.
When I read your introduction, I felt like your words where describing my sentiment as a foreigner trying to find my place in the world. It is funny but my thesis body of work talks about how I as a latin american artist and human being have respond to the contrasting environment of a northern region like New England. In both, my daily life and my jewelry I use the energy of saturated colors as a metaphor for visual infusion that satisfies this need for light and color so common and taken for granted in latin american countries.
I would love to look at your work and have further conversations about it!
In the meantime here is a link to my thesis body of work,
http://apps.risd.edu/ngallery/albums/277.aspx
I would love to hear your thoughts!
Mariana
Dear Elvis, funny picture! it reminds me of our old funny foreign adventures…and on the long time spent in airports…send you a kiss.
Mariana,
Thanks for your comment. “Pero” Mariana, Montreal and Providence make feel so chicken! I just lived in Melbourne and Barcelona!
I think that the difficulty is a powerful driving force that ends up pushing us forward on the making. I am glad that you turned your climate strangeness into mater.
I wouldn’t go for the generalizing path, though. I couldn’t respond for Latin American cultures, it’s too broad. Yes, I do have hot weather and the prevalent sunlight allows me to see things in bright shades filled with yellow. But the colors are always there and even gray is a color! I can say that now that the light receptors of my emotional eye allow me to!
The sensitiveness to the weather could be cultural, but I take it mostly as personal and then its easier to take credit and responsibility for any consequences of it.
I hope you keep making and building protective shields whenever you need them. I enjoyed the size of the pieces you made and also the combination of color and gray (the colorless color).
With time I realized that sometimes I need an opponent to go against and the cold weather did that part for a while. Now I am searching for more positive ways to challenge myself and push the making forward. And I’ll sure think twice before enduring long periods far from my natural environment. I respect the fact that I feel better as a local.
Still love travelling tough.
Creo que este tema no tiene fin, por eso tarde tanto en escribirte. Paro por aqui entonces.
Un abrazo y suerte.
Thelma