Photograph by Pedro Wazzan
I am a Venezuelan multimedia artist who works in collage, printing, photography, painting, and architectural interventions. Born and raised in Caracas, a troubled city within an exuberant tropical landscape, I soon became aware of the complexity of interactions between nature (us humans included) and the urban context (our human creation). When the political crisis in my country made life in the city intolerable, I sought refuge by photographing shadows of trees on the pavement. Through deep observation and employing digital processes, I discovered an ever-present underlying pattern in natural elements such as cloud formations, bodies of water, dragonfly wings, or human skin, visible at different scales. I produce works on diverse materials such as perforated paper, metal, fabric, and mosaic that reveal and recreate the versatility of this undisclosed matrix.
Fascinated by these patterns, I conceive site-specific artworks that enhance the interaction of geometric and organic structures in architectural spaces. The scale of these works creates an all-encompassing experience between natural and human-made elements. I completed a large mosaic mural for the Zelda Glazer Soundscape Park pavilion this year, which will be installed when the pavilion’s construction is finished.
Quantum Physics revealed that everything is energy and that the interaction of energies creates every manifested thing and living creature in this world. In my practice, I explore the tensions and interactions between diverse and sometimes contradictory forces, which span from intimate to social and political relations using different media, such as collages, prints, wood etchings, and mixed media.
Toña Vegas is a Miami-based Venezuelan-born visual artist whose work spans painting, collage, printing, site-specific installations, and architectural interventions.
She holds a BFA in Psychology from Catholic University Andres Bello, Caracas (1974), a Foundation Course at Hornsey College of Art, London UK (1976), and a Graphic Arts Degree at Center for Graphic Arts, Caracas (1981) and was mentored with artists Mercedes Pardo and Alejandro Otero.
Solo shows: Reflexions on visibility. Feel/Think/Create. Program of Virtual exhibits. MACZUL, Venezuela (2020), Energy Matters, Imago Art in Action, Miami (2019), Inventory/takes, The Clemente Center, New York (2017) in tandem with Tony Vazquez-Figueroa, Universe of Silence, Gsiete Galería, Caracas (2012), Formas del Tiempo, Okyo Gallery, Caracas (2008), Polarity and Inner space, ADD Gallery, Hudson, NY (2006), Water, Galería 39, Caracas (2004), Espace Meyer-Zafra, Paris (2003), Threads and foundation, Galería Alternativa, Caracas (2000), Watercolors, Galería Sanarte, Caracas (1987) and Collages and drawings, Galería Siete Siete, Caracas (1987).
Group exhibitions in Miami: Water Glances, Imago Art in Action, Miami (2022) Active Artists Collective, Private Viewing. Bermac Studios, Houston, Tx (2021), Home Sweet Home. Harvest Projects, Miami (2020), Women in Art, Amerant Bank (2020), Beyond Paper Boundaries, Pan American Art Projects (2020), For Now… Coral Gables Museum (2019-2020), The Universal Language of Abstraction, Pan American Art Projects (2018), RAW Installation at Moore Building Design District (2018), RAW installation at the Historical Post Office in downtown Miami (2017). She has also participated in collective exhibits at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Arts, and Cruz Diez Museum, Caracas, Los Andes University, Mérida, Venezuela; Contemporary Latin American Art, Pocket Book Factory, Hudson, NY, and Strasbourg Art Fair, France.
Zelda Glazer Soundscape Park winner, Art in Public Places (2022), Vegas’s architectural interventions appear in private and public buildings and collections throughout Caracas and Miami (Financial Center, Integral Arts Center, Plaz collection, Caracas; Belloso-Vivas and Koslowsky collections, Miami).
Vegas‘s work has been published and reviewed in art magazines (Hudson River Art, NY, Contrabando, Caracas), digital magazines (viceversa-mag.com, nyartbeat.com, elestímulo.com, corrientealterna.net, contrapunto.com, analítica.com), newspapers (El Universal, El Mundo, El Nacional, Caracas, Register Star, Hudson, NY) and books (El Ávila en la mirada de todos. Maria Elena Ramos, Caracas 2014, Arte en Venezuela 1980-2005. Juan Carlos Palenzuela, Caracas 2014)
She is currently a resident artist at Bakehouse Art Complex.