Client

Overview

Landscape of Belief is a sculptural time-based installation that calls into question how we construct our lives according to our belief systems. The viewer experiences the sculpture as animations composed of text projected and floating diaphanously in glass panels. These texts that generate skylines of real/imaginary landscapes are culled from Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, (both a dialogue and description of illusory cities between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan). By carefully overlapping surfaces, a rich non material space of emptiness is achieved throughout the time-based composition. The sculpture presents nothingness as an object thus allowing for the space of the metaphysical to challenge the viewer.

Goals

Location: traveling exhibition “The Storytellers”.

Curated by Selene Wendt and Gerardo Mosquera, Stenenser Museum of Oslo, Norway, and Museo de Arte Banco de la República, Bogotá, Colombia, also shown at the BYU Museum of Art, Provo, Utah, and the “Power of Intention” curated by Elena Pakhoutova at Rubin Museum of Art, NYC. As seen in this work, for the first time Monika generated the images solely by drawing. she used the graphic animators (the assistants) as an extension of her brain, they translated her visual ideas into form. The process began with finding the images in google and then recomposing the city’s skyline by meticulously outlining and tracing their architectural components with Calvino’s text. The sculptural aspect is also critical in this work, for Bravo is allowing the materials to become present and centered in the space, expressing her own willingness to expose vulnerability as strength.

Process

Bravo first came upon the idea for the piece after she encountered the title for an exhibition “Textural landscapes”, she envisioned a space covered with layers of dynamic landscape, as thoughts become actions these define destinies. Monika thought of text as the potentiality of form; as the space in between, the vehicle of infinite probabilities, not so much as direct meaning, but as abstraction and embodiment of the possibilities of the mind. Her intention was to create a parallel between literature and architecture, as they both define, translate and shape physical and mind structures. As the viewer is immersed in the projection, she is given the opportunity to experience the prospect of awareness, of the power of their belief systems and how they define the landscape of their lives. I am also interested in the transparency, the emptiness of space and its potential as the things that are yet to come.

Additional Information

MONIKA BRAVO
 I am a multi-disciplinary artist born in Bogotá, Colombia. I studied fashion design in Rome & Paris and photography in London and NYC. I moved to Miami Beach, during 2020. I embody my own perspective and no longer seek “truth”; my vision is a synthesis of all disciplines, guiding me to manifest a reality that matches my desire to evolve. I create mesmerizing environments for public spaces, intimate interpersonal interactions through astrological readings, and meaningful spaces for individual and communal development through talks and workshops. I enjoy directing and producing diverse projects, from complex multi-media installations and public art commissions to artists’ books, textile design, and community workshops – thus, I see no boundaries between the applied and fine arts. I thrive in situations where I am working with limitations and constraints, creating opportunities for innovative projects that serve communities for years to come. I enjoy challenging myself with new technologies and materials, discovering new ways of manifesting my ideas to fit the needs of the location.