Luisa Valderrama Brings her Art Indoors

The vast plains and grasslands of Llanos, Colombia inspire the unique creations of Brooklyn-based artist Luisa Valderrama, who will showcase her multidisciplinary talent at a solo exhibition at a Chashama gallery on the Upper East Side starting on June 19.

While Valderrama’s introduction to art came through painting classes at the young age of ten, the Bogota-born artist says it was the regular trips to her parents’ hometown and ranch – nine-hour car rides that turned into twelve from frequent stops in neighboring towns as they wind their way through the countryside – during her childhood and college years that created a deep and lasting connection to the land.

“Llanos is rural, lots of grassland, lots of space, lots of cattle and horses,” she said, with an expansive gesture of her arms. “Really rich in terms of culture” where the local residents, predominantly of Indigenous or Mestizo descent, live close to nature and use a lot of natural items in their way of life.

This influenced a growing interest in her family’s culture as she got older (her father is also a folklore musician); and exploring the use of organic materials when she started undergraduate art classes at the University of Los Andes in Bogota, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History in 2014.

In 2016, Valderrama moved to New York to attend Pratt Institute in Brooklyn where she studied sculpture in their fine arts master’s program.

“Now I do more sculpture and installations. I use a lot of dirt, a lot of soil, to construct my installations, so everything is dark and earthy.” She adds that she thinks her art is always related to where she comes from, with themes of “home, belonging, homeland, land.”

Solo Show

It is this series of work focused on landscape and identity that has earned her the prized Immigrant Artist Fellowship award with Chashama, that provides several months of studio space, her upcoming solo show titled “Removed Landscapes,” among other forms of support included in the fellowship.

Chashama is a New York City non-profit created in 1995 to support artists by providing space for them to create and showcase their work.

“For over 26 years, Chashama has partnered with property owners to transform unused real estate into artist workspace, presentation space, and space for free art classes for seniors and youth. Chashama has given space to 30,000 artists, hosted 4,000 public art events, provided 1,500 free art classes, and reached audiences of nearly a million,” representative Rachel Cohen said.

Valderrama’s “proposal featured works made from soil which are then compressed and formed to the shape of domestic objects, like tables, chairs, and even a window. We were very excited by the materiality of her work,” Cohen explained.

Valderrama’s emerging interest in landscapes identity stems from her readings on Landscape Anthropology – how people connect to, shape, and identify with the landscapes they occupy – and her own experience recalling the jarring impact the new presence of “huge gas pipelines” had when they were placed all around the spaces where she grew up. “It felt completely interrupted,” she said.

“There is a connection between landscape and identity and that sense of belonging; so sometimes that sense of belonging is a little bit shifted when landscapes change so fast, and I’m interested in [exploring] that.”

The 31-year-old’s goal is to have larger and larger pieces, with someday sculptures and installations in outdoor spaces like Central or Prospect Park.

“With my work, I’m not intending to give answers but more like to raise questions,” she said. “That’s what I think is important about art: do interesting things visually and maybe it’s not exactly what the artist wants to say but I still think it’s successful if the audience comes away with new ideas and questions in their heads.”