» Elena Damiani

Elena Damiani Peru, 1979

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: Elena Damiani, “Macelo 3”, 2012, Series: Macelos, Hand-carved travertine, glass, collage on found bookplate, 50 x 80 x 35 cm. Photo credit: Daniel Giannoni.

: Elena Damiani, “Journeying Loc.1 and Loc.2”, 2012, Series: Journeying, Collage, 37 x 70 x 3 cm. Photo credit: Artist.

: Elena Damiani, “Triangulation”, 2012, Series: While Wandering, Print on found bookplates, acid free tissue paper, 29.7 x 41 cm. Photo credit: Artist.

: Elena Damiani, “Down by the water”, 2012, Series: While Wandering, Print on found bookplates, acid free tissue paper, 29.7 x 41 cm. Photo credit: Artist.

: Elena Damiani, “Intersticio”, 2012, Video projection, (00:05:26), Variable dimensions. Photo credit: Artist.

: Elena Damiani, “Mistake 5”, 2012, Series: The Exactness of Mistake, Collage on found book page, 25 x 24.5 cm. Photo credit: Artist.

: Elena Damiani, “Fading field N3. Installation view”, 2013, Series: Fading fields, Digital print on silk chiffon, wood structure, black urethane paint, Variable dimensions. Site-specific project. Location: 9th Mercosul Biennial, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Photo credit: Bienal do Mercosul.

: Elena Damiani, “The Surface Reader”, 2013, Series: The Surface Reader, Collage. Watercolour on handmade Lokta Barbour grey paper, 154 x 118 cm. Photo credit: Joe Clark.

: Elena Damiani, “Testigos (45 rods)”, 2013, Series: The Surface Reader, Hand-carved and polished travertine, resin, ebony veneer, 3 x 145 x 70 cm. Photo credit: Joe Clark.

: Elena Damiani, “Excavating and Remembering”, 2013, Series: The Surface Reader, Hand-carved and polished travertine, cloth hand-bound books, collage on found maps and Kawanaka paper, 22 x 90 x 90 cm. Photo credit: Joe Clark.

: Elena Damiani, “Testigos”, 2014, Hand-carved and polished travertine, onyx, resin, stainless steel, 180 x 180 x 11 cm. Site-specific project. Location: Private Collection, Lima, Peru. Photo credit: Artist.

: Elena Damiani, “Brise-soleil 1”, 2014, Hand-carved and polished travertine, 110 x 136 x 15 cm. Photo credit: Daniel Giannoni.

: Elena Damiani, “Rude Rocks N1”, 2015, Series: Rude Rocks, Hand-carved and polished travertine, copper, stainless steel, 47 x 60 x 12 cm. Photo credit: Artist.

: Elena Damiani, “Rude Rocks N2 and N3. Installation view”, 2015, Series: Rude Rocks, Hand-carved and polished Breccia marble, copper, raw steel, 204 x 300 x 300 cm. Site-specific project. Location: 56 Venice Biennale, All the World’s Futures, Venice, Italy. Photo credit: Artist.

: Elena Damiani, “Rude Rocks N4 (Turrón after Bratke). Installation view “, 2015, Series: Rude Rocks, Hand-carved and polished Breccia marble, steel structure, copper, digital prints on tempered glass, black urethane paint, matte urethane lacquer, 211 x 180 x 38 cm. Site-specific project. Location: 56 Venice Biennale, All the World’s Futures, Venice, Italy. Photo credit: Alessandra Chemollo. Courtesy by la Biennale di Venezia.

My conceptual interests –understanding the present by looking into the past and recognizing the potential of images to resonate and prompt a universe of associations in the collective memory– guide my practice of transforming found material into collages, sculptures, and video installations. In my investigation I turn to scientific studies such as geology, archeology, and cartography to explore forms of fragmentation and material reinterpretation. My work seeks to redefine natural realms and their generative processes, presenting them as incomplete and ambiguous spaces where multiple times and topographies seem to unfold in unison.

Mi práctica es guiada por intereses críticos relacionados al entendimiento del presente a través de una mirada al pasado y a la capacidad evocativa de las imágenes para resonar y desencadenar un universo de asociaciones en la memoria colectiva; estos intereses transforman materiales encontrados en collages, esculturas y video instalaciones. En mi investigación recurro a temas como la geología, arqueología y cartografía para explorar formas de fragmentación y reinterpretación de material documentado y racionalizado por la ciencia que estudia la composición, evolución e historia de la Tierra. Mi obra busca reinterpretar estadíos naturales y sus procesos generativos presentándolos como espacios incompletos y ambiguos en donde se fusionan múltiples tiempos y topografías.

Selected Biographical Information

Education / Training

2008-2010: MA Fine Arts, Goldsmiths College, London, United Kingdom.
2000-2005: BA Fine Arts, Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes Corriente Alterna, Lima, Peru.

Prizes / Fellowships

2014: Americas Society’s Commission for David Rockefeller Atrium, Americas Society, New York, USA.
2006: Special Mention , 12th International Arts and Digital Cultures Festival of Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
2006: Second Prize, 9th French-Peruvian Contest of Visual Arts “Pasaporte para un Artista”, Lima, Peru.
2004: Production Prize, 2nd Peruvian Contest of Video and Electronic Arts, Lima, Peru.

Solo Exhibitions

2013: “All The Pieces Back Together”, Selma Feriani Gallery, London, United Kingdom.
2013: “La Chambre“, Elaine Levy Project, Brussels, Belgium.
2012: “History Decomposes Into Images, Not Into Narratives”, Revolver Galeria, Lima, Peru.
2011: “Elena Damiani and Alois Godinat“, Elaine Levy Project, Brussels, Belgium.
2011: “The Second Treasury of Stanleth”, Selma Feriani Gallery, London, United Kingdom.
2011: “Vanishing Point Vantage Point”, Dohyang Lee Galerie, Paris, France.
2007: “Sites”, Galeria Vertice, Lima, Peru.
2005: “1st International Print Biennale – Prints and Motion “, Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes Corriente Alterna, Lima, Peru.
2005: “Geo”, Sala Luis Miro Quesada Garland, Lima, Peru.
2003: “Moción animal”, Espacio La Culpable, Lima, Peru.

Group Exhibitions

2015: “THEOREM, You Simply Destroy the Image I Always Had of Myself“, Mana Contemporary, New Jersey, USA.
2015: “Vienna Biennale – Future Light: Escaping Transparency“, MAK Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria.
2015: “All the World’s Futures“, 56 Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition, Venice, Italy.
2014: “Idea of Fracture – Opinione Latina P.2“, Francesca Minini, Milan, Italy.
2014: “Spatial Acts: Americas Society Commissions Art“, Americas Society, New York, USA.
2014: “BIM Bienal de la Imagen y Movimiento“, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2013: “Project 35 Volume 2“, ICI Independent Curators International, touring exhibition.
2013: “Videoarte 01- Reopening the blackbox of technology“, MAC Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Lima, Peru.
2013: “9th Bienal do Mercosul“, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
2013: “Ciclorama“, Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, Mexico.