Isabel Veganzones Belmonte

Statement

Murcia, 1999

My reflection over the last few years has revolved around everyday life and domestic history. My inspiration comes from personal memories in the family context and from the common spaces we have dwelt. All kinds of objects pile up, things that now I am using to create metaphors about my own history, based on appropriation and decontextualization. Memories, my memory, the trace and the passage of time as terms that form the basis of a large part of my work and my reflections.

The idea of experiential and non-experiential memory has accompanied me in many of my recent works. Experiential memory consists of the remembrance of events from our past: “we remember it because we lived it.” On the other hand, non-experiential memory refers to experiences not personally lived, to information we have acquired about ourselves but which has been passed on to us by others.

GlogauAIR Project

In the past years, my projects have revolved around memories, remembrance, loss and the traces that they all imprint on us. This focus has taken me to make use of unconventional materials, such as dust, orange peel or pages of old books, in a quest to connect with the meanings that those materials convey when taken out of their ordinary context. My purpose is to develop these concerns by linking them to my current life and the places where I live, which implies the inclusion of new materials and unexpected consequences towards a process of individualisation.

My work is mainly process focused, and at times even ephemeral. I have already carried out several projects in places like Dakar, Kassel and Amsterdam and the outcomes become part of installations and new objects.

In addition to that, is it possible to connect with the memories of individuals that have become anonymous to me? During the past months, I have been gathering photos of unknown people in different street markets in Europe, like Madrid, Lisboa, Paris and Berlin. In a reflection that goes beyond the invention of imaginary stories, what can I uncover about myself from these anonymous images? Like in an archeological endeavor, what physical and metaphorical constructions can consequently determine my works?

Underlying all my works is an idea about time and the different models that coexist in our lives, something that is very much present in my work process. Circles, spirals, vertical straight lines, helicoids… It is my intention to delve deeper into these concepts and their consequences in the construction of my pieces.

CV Summary

Education

• 2017 – 2021 Degree in Fine Arts, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain
• 2019 – 2020 Erasmus Mobility, School of Fine Arts, University of Kassel, Germany
• 2016 – 2017 Erasmus+ project “Art for Human Rights” in Iasi (Romania) and Frankfurt (Germany)
• 2015 First Summer School, School of Fine Arts, Universidad de Murcia, Spain

Exhibitions

• 2021 XXVII Certamen Europeo de Artes Plásticas, Universidad de Sevilla (group)
• 2020 Home as dessert, curated by Professor Mounira Al Solh at the Kunsthochschule Kassel (group virtual exhibition)
• My body to me, Tokonoma Gallery, Kassel, Germany (group)
• About Long Distances, Red Light District of Amsterdam, The Netherlands (group)
• 2019 Workshops with children in a poor neighbourhood in Dakar, Senegal
• 2016 FreshArt Award, School of Fine Arts, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain (group)

Awards

• 2016 DKV FreshArt National Award (photography)
• 2021 First Prize XXVII Certamen Europeo de Artes Plásticas, Universidad de Sevilla

Art residence

• 2021 Hangar (October – November)
• 2022 GlogauAIR (January – March)

Gallery