Year: 2020
Material /Technique: Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, phosphor, potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, magnesium, iron, fluorine, zinc, silicon, copper, iodine, chromium, selenium, nickel, boron, manganese, lithium, molybdenum, cobalt and collagen on panel, carbon, amethyst and fluorite stones.
Environment is us belongs to a series of paintings inspired by chemistry and physics. In this series Lucas reflects on the huge disconnect between man and nature.
In the abstract compositions made with the very matter that makes up the human body - roughly sixteen elements, from carbon and phosphorus to calcium and iron - she demonstrates the effects of then chemical interactions. Colors, forms, lines: every composition is the product of a practically uncontrollable process. Every composition is unique, just as every human being - and the earth itself - is unique. What connects us to each other, and to nature, is the fact that we consist of the same elements. Lucas’s work is an open call an appeal to restore cur connection to the earth and to ourselves.
Fragments of elements such as carbon, calcium, and sodium bicarbonate, as well as water, are part of Lucas's installation. Together the water and these fragments, distributed throughout the space, also constitute a composition. Those who stand in the installation see reflections of themselves all around: Environment Is Us.
Artist
Cristina Lucas (Jaén 1973-), lives and works in Madrid. She holds a degree in Fine Arts from the Complutense University of Madrid. She completed a Master’s degree at the Irvine University of California (US) and continued her studies at the International Studio & Curatorial Program in New York and the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. Lucas is a multidisciplinary artist, working with video, performance, photography, drawings and installations in which she reflects upon the structures of power.
Her works analyze the main political and economic structures of our time in an effort to reveal the contradictions between the official story, the true story and collective memory. She enjoys challenging historical, social, political and cultural cliches and takes a critical stand on issues such as the position of women, Western domination and humankind’s ambition to control nature.
Her work has been presented in solo exhibitions at Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil in Mexico; MUDAM Luxemburg; and Tegenboschvanvreden, Amsterdam; as well as in group exhibitions at Manifesta 12, Palermo; the 12th Shanghai Biennale; MACBA, Barcelona; the 28th Bienal de São Paulo; and the 10th Istanbul Biennial.