Lina Puerta

Provenance:  Courtesy of the Artist

Drawing from my experience as a Colombian-American, my art examines the relationship between nature and the human-made, and engages in themes of food justice, xenophobia, hyper-consumerism, and ancestral knowledge. I create mixed media sculptures, installations, collages, handmade-paper paintings and wall hangings by combining a wide range of materials, from artificial plants and paper pulp to found, personal and recycled objects. Starting with an initial concept, I manipulate materials intuitively while in the act of making, responding to the juxtaposition of colors and textures. Experimentation and layering are key to my practice, as I push and play with materials and mediums. I began the Botánico series in 2010 to explore the tension between the human and botanical worlds. Deconstructing the human control exemplified by artificial plants, I reassembled them to mimic the resilience and seeming chaos of wild plants, sometimes erupting from the gallery walls themselves.

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