Vanessa Romo

Artist Statement

Transfixed by complexity, I am drawn to contradiction. My research centers on the links between subjective memory and fact, apathy and empathy, femininity and masculinity, fragility and strength, and the persistent presence of beauty within the grotesque, as they surface through processes of fragmentation, repair, and material tension. Rather than accepting the polarity of these pairings, I seek the relationships inside them. I experiment with what emerges when perceived boundaries blur—when oppositions are forced into coexistence.

I often feel at a loss for words, and the material exploration becomes the vehicle through which I find them. Our perceptions are warped and fragmented, shaped by internal and external forces. We literally see ourselves in pieces: an arm here, a leg there. This fracturing and subsequent repair of self, body, and world is a persistent thread in my work; mending. My objects manifest and respond to my conditioned ideas of the “female ideal,” serving as commentary on the erosion of bodily autonomy and the politics of the body.

Clay is used as a foundation and becomes the surface onto which I layer industrial and domestic materials—insulation foam, textiles, steel, and more; a constant collaboration, call and response. These opposing materials extend my examination of contradiction within the feminine and push back against prescribed gender roles/binaries. Through this process of self-examination, I have restructured my understanding. The curiosities that emerge—fragmented, oddly mended, and strange—have become whole through sustained mending.


HERE IS A STATEMENT FOR MEDITATIONS ON GRIEF (WORK CREATED FOR THIS EXHIBITION)
Please note this is not my general statement, thank you.

Meditations on Grief is a work created in response to the exhibition theme. It explores grief through repetition and remembrance; the performance/assembling of materials occurred while wearing items from lost loved ones, listening to their favorite music, and reviewing/consuming political content.
Processing comes to mind as I describe this work. The knotting of the clay and subsequent application of iron speak to our place on this earth; iron is the most abundant element on the planet; it is also what most of our blood is comprised of. Each knot acts as a meditation regarding place.
Muslin acts as a reference to the fragility of life, especially as it degrades; as a material, it is porous and open. This allows natural dyes to sink in; coffee was used to reference earth/dirt and a coming back to land.
When I think of grief, I also think of connection and tethers, to spirit, community, and land. The work is meant to reveal/solidify these invisible cords; connections we all share, an infinite loop.