Paulina Velázquez Solís:
Unseen/forgotten: Ode to the humble landscape

July 18 – September 28
Thursday – Saturday, dusk – 11pm
Everson Museum Plaza
401 Harrison Street

Related Events

Embracing the Unpredictable

Live Multimedia Performance
July 26

Light Work’s Urban Video Project is pleased to present the exhibition Unseen/forgotten: An ode to the humble landscape | Invisible/olvidado: Oda al paisaje humilde from July 18th-September 28th at their architectural projection venue on the Everson Museum facade.

In conjunction with the exhibition, Paulina Velázquez Solís will be present for a live performance on the Everson Plaza on July 26th at 8:30 PM.


About the Work


Unseen/forgotten: Ode to the humble landscape 

Invisible/olvidado: Oda al paisaje humilde

duration: 14:26

2024

Unseen/forgotten: Ode to the humble landscape | Invisible/olvidado: Oda al paisaje humilde is a continuation of the project A river of all ages that Paulina Velázquez Solís developed during the pandemic. She found herself in a new environment in Brooktondale NY, surrounded by a creek where the change of pace and isolation brought via COVID accentuated the sound perception of the river, and its presence as a neighbor and living entity.

This sonic connection was similar to her home in Costa Rica, which is also next to a river, making the sound experience of the river both grounding and nostalgic. This experience brought a new perspective not only in the sense of place through bodies of water but also in the creatures and plants that are particular to a place.

Unseen/forgotten: continues these observations focusing on plants of Central New York natural areas that present a post-industrial natural wonder – where many species prevail after the severe deforestation through the end of the 19th century and the start of the 1900’s 1 presenting through visuals, media performance and soundscapes, stories learned during the explorations of natural areas, and visits at the L. H. Bailey Hortorium Herbarium at Cornell University.

The narratives and images of two plants that are highlighted in this project are Micrantheumun micranthemoides, a semiaquatic plant that is extinct, and originally found near the mud plains by the Hudson River, that now can only be found in the archived specimens, and recent images of seeds from an electromagnetic microscope. The second plant, Calamagrostis perplexa, is an endemic grass in Tompkins County that according to the observations and analysis by botanist David Werier exists only in a specific area. This ancient plant has lived in the same location for hundreds of years bearing witness to the changes of the larger landscape.

Getting to know the landscapes where these, and other unassuming plants live or have existed, aims to re-direct our curiosity of discovery, wonder in natural spaces and our connection to the past and the future.

1 According to the Department of Environmental Conservation “by the 1880s, less than 25% of New York State remained forested” Department of Environmental Conservation, History Of State Forest Program, A History of Human Impact, last visited on July,5,2024 https://dec.ny.gov/nature/forests-trees/state-forests/program-history#:~:text=A%20History%20of%20Human%20Impact&text=By%20the%201880s%2C%20less%20than,of%20timber%20within%2050%20years.


About the Artist


Paulina Velázquez Solís (she/her) is a multimedia artist from Latinoamerica with an interest in the oddities hidden within nature and the body. She was born in Puebla, Mexico and grew up between Mexico and Costa Rica, where she went to art school. She works in diverse media, including installation, sculpture, drawing, animation, and multimedia performance. 

She graduated in Art and Visual Communication in Printmaking at Universidad Nacional in Costa Rica and obtained an MFA in New Genres from the San Francisco Art Institute as a Fulbright Scholar. She moved to Ithaca, NY in 2018 where she is currently faculty at the Art Department at Cornell University and Ithaca College. Her work has been shown around the world, including at the Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo, TEOR/éTica in Costa Rica, Taipei Fine Arts Museum in Taiwan, ExTeresa Arte Actual in México City, Museo de Arte in San Salvador, Torino Contemporanea in Italy, La Casa de las Américas in Havana, Cuba, Mengi in Reykjavik, Iceland, Museum of the Americas in Washington DC, UCLA Biennial in Los Ángeles, and the Berkeley Art Museum in the San Francisco Bay area.

Artist Website: multifungi.com


Sponsors


This exhibition is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

The UVP program is made possible with a Tier Three Project Support grant from the County of Onondaga, with the support of County Executive Ryan McMahon and the Onondaga County Legislature, administered by CNY Arts.