Torn by Rita Vargas
Torn, 2021.
Cyanotype on Arches watercolour paper, natural white, 356g/m2, 100% cotton, acid free. Paper size: 70 x 115 cm, image size: 67 x 113 cm. One deckled edge. Hand finished and signed by the artist. Photography by Maija Holma.
Time: 17.11.-28.11.2021
Torn is Rita Vargas’ Process Wall project:
The installation ‘Torn’ is a metaphor for a feeling of absence as a daughter, a mother, a sister, a friend. It’s a cliff detail, just in front of the Atlantic Ocean, geographically situated at the Vicentine coast natural park, Portugal. This is a place where family has been gathering for many decades, whenever it is possible, year after year. Characterized by rugged rocks, the sand stratified cliff with fissures is caused by centuries of erosion.
“My throat feels like this, every time it is time to say goodbye, without knowing when it is the last. I end up feeling torn, like this cliff, because I never know where to stand. It has been a difficult choice between staying and going. A feeling of breaking apart in pieces at the same time that there is the need to remain strong as a rock. With ‘Torn’ I try to silently bring a loud sensation of not being able to belong to a place, at the same time that familiarity is present. It is through these fragile lines that ‘Torn’ tries to bring to the audience the need to rethink boundaries.”
Rita Vargas was born in Portugal (Évora, 1981). Vargas holds a MA in Fine Arts (Sculpture) and Art Education from the University of Évora (PT) and University of Southampton, Winchester School of Arts (UK). Vargas is also a Doctor of Philosophy in Art History by the University of Jyväskylä (FIN) with expertise on Artists-in-Residence and Contemporary Art. Vargas has lived and worked as a professional artist in Japan, Germany, U.K. and Azores Islands. Vargas is living and working in Finland for about 12 years and moved from Jyväskylä, where she worked as a freelance artist in Ratamo Printmaking and Photography Centre to Helsinki in 2019, in order to open a printmaking studio: Vargas Print Studio. Vargas is working mainly with printmaking media, light, art installations, and stone sculpture, however, if there is some time left, also curates and writes about interesting art by artists from around the world, with special focus on Japanese, Portuguese, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish contemporary culture. Vargas exhibits regularly nationally and internationally and her works belong to public and private foundations in Portugal, Finland, Japan, New Zealand, Germany, Spain, among other countries. Vargas is represented in Finland by several galleries such as Galleria G, Galleria G12, Galleria Ratamo, Galleria Becker and Galleria Joella.
Vargas’s ‘Torn’ art exhibition will be open from 17th until 28th of November, at Myymälä2 Gallery, Uudenmaankatu 23 F, 00120 Helsinki. The Gallery is open for the public from Wednesday to Saturday from 12–18h, Sunday from 12–17h, Monday – Tuesday closed.
Contact:
info@myymala2.com
