MC

 

Our careless culture casts things aside: the worn, the used, the antiquated,

the decaying… that which would be fine if we practice the art of maintenance. Monica canilao compiles a living history, a narrative that weaves her experiences with physical remnants of past lives. By taking something as ordinary as found paper or cloth and passing thread through it, new things can be made beautiful or useful. MOnica's installations become a shifting cultural mirror comprised of materials gathered from the cities in which they are shown. Through meticulous painting, cutting, building, sewing, and layering, she uses recycled materials to transform forgotten objects and familiar imagery into a personal vernacular of newborn mythology. Inspired from native traditions and contemporary subcultures alike, she explores interconnections between what’s past & present, personal and collective, the commonplace and the sacred. These elements combine themselves searching for a vision of home: these works encode meaning intended to trigger some lost need, a feral desire for human connection within the modern world.

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Monica's art is about making living sacred.

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