FACE SHIELDS. Aurora Molina, Natalia Schonowski, and Silvia Yapur opening Thursday, April 10th 2014, 7:30 PM

ARTIST STATEMENT

Our research of Indonesian culture led us to the exploration of numerous masks and their utility. These face shields are used in theatrics, religious ceremonies and in everyday life. The exploration of gestures and story telling in Javanese performance led to the use of Indonesian mask mime. An aspect of our exploration included that of the sacred and the profane through the use of anthropomorphic disguisement. These camouflages may mediate with the spirit world and protect the human instinctive self. In a more contemporary context masks have become a functional tool instead of an aesthetic garment. The exploration of the history of masks in a more practical purpose shows that these face shields keeps being a tool of protection whether it is for disease prevention, religious protection, or refinement and caricature.

As fiber artists, we naturally gravitated toward the art of batik making. We wanted to work traditional Indonesian techniques in a non conventional manner. Each one of us has explored fiber techniques in our previous works. We incorporate fabric, thread, and embroidery into our artwork. Batik seemed like a natural addition to our textile repertoire.

NATALIA SCHONOWSKI
Natalia Schonowski is a fiber/textile artist currently based in New York City. She was born in Bogota, Colombia in1984. Natalia has lived in numerous places around the world. She received her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Mixed Media from Florida International University and her Masters of Fine Arts in Media Art and Design from Bauhaus University Weimar and a Masters of Arts in Art Theory from Tongji University Shanghai.

AURORA MOLINA
Aurora Molina was born in La Havana, Cuba, in 1984. She emigrated to the United States at the age of sixteen, where she opted to pursue an education in art. Molina received her Associates of Arts in Visual Arts from Miami Dade College, a Bachelors in Fine Arts specializing in Fiber Art from Florida International University and Master Degree in Contemporary Art at the Universidad Europea de Madrid completed in 2009. She currently resides in Miami, Florida, where she works as a full time artist.

SILVIA YAPUR
Silvia Yapur is a multidisciplinary artist currently based in Miami, Florida. She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and emigrated to Miami in 2006. Although she is originally received a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science from the UADE University in Buenos Aires, Silvia has been pursuing painting and other art disciplines in Miami.