Sol Villanueva
“I believe what is important in these works is to highlight both the cultural identity and the cross-cultural influence. The manifestations of folk art, such as Kogin embroidery (Japanese) or the traditional Mapuche loom (Argentine / Chilean), are collective creations that transmit their iconography as a representation of the community to which they belong. In the eagerness to represent a popular culture, this type of art always tends to anonymity, relegating the individual factors linked to the search for originality or personal recognition.
Since I can remember, I have been seeing and internalizing as my own, certain symbols of Mapuche iconography, such as the Andean Cross (stepped rhombus) essential for the worldview of this people. Despite not being part of the Mapuche community, when I see their symbols I feel a deep connection, a sense of belonging for the simple fact of being Argentine. This is how a few years ago I felt the call to learn the Mapuche loom, then I got into Japanese embroidery, and later on, I combined both artistic manifestations. Having soaked myself in these strikingly similar universes, I felt the creative urge to cross them. This is how I use the Japanese Kogin embroidery technique to create designs inspired by the Mapuche loom. Through the syncretism between both ethnic groups, I reinvent ancestral techniques. This is my humble tribute to all the anonymous artisans who build our universe culture”.
Sol Villanueva
EDUCATION
2022-2023 Master’s degree in Cultural Management, University of San Andres, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2019-2021 Tech. in Business Administration, orientation in PyMEs (Acronym in Spanish for Small and Medium Enterprise), University of Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2013-2018 Bachelor of Visual Arts, Painting specialty, University of Argentine Social Museum, Buenos Aires, Argentina
COURSES, SEMINARS & WORKSHOPS
2021 Corpus delicti: theories and histories of corporeality in art, professor Georgina G. Gluzman, University of San Andres, Buenos Aires, Argentina
NFT Mastery, course in crypto art with the digital artist Richard Silvera, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2020 My own imagination: embroidery as a creative process, seminar with the artist and embroiderer Mariana Guagliano
Sashiko, Japanese embroidery workshop with Sofia Alba
2019 Reality effect, writing workshop with the Argentine journalist Leila Guerriero, Torcuato Di Tella University, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Aug 6 – 22
System and Art Market, with the professor Daniela de la Rez and Gachi Prieto, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Jun 4-27
2016 Contemporary painting, ceramics and engraving workshop. Accademia di arte Firenze, Italy
Iron engraving. Seminar with Pere-Pons. Atelier L’armadillo Florence, Italy
Four-month exchange, University of the Basque Country, Bilbao, Spain
2015 Painting on porcelain with the artist Susana Alonso
Mapuche loom: Aboriginal course, with Martina Maidana, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Cutting and Dressmaking, Tania Steverlyn, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2013 History of art, with Astrid Maulhardt, Adjunct Professor of the Chair of Art History and Contemporary Tourism Trends at the National University of San Martín
Modernity and Vanguard in Buenos Aires, Lic. Lia Munilla, Cultural Extension University of San Andres, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2010-2015 Painting, Sculpture and Drawing workshop, Lic. Susana Barlocco, Buenos Aires, Argentina
AWARDS
2019 First Place Artistic Creation in Painting, 27th Edition, University of Belgrano Buenos Aires, Argentina. Nov 2-15
Selected to participate in the Molina Campos Provincial Hall of Visual Arts, organized by the Provincial Museum of Fine Arts “Emilio Petorutti”, Senate of La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Nov 15-27
EXHIBITIONS
2022 Narratives in Latin American Art. Collective exhibition. ArtServe, Fort Lauderdale, FL. USA. Oct 13- Dec 30
Linking Strands. Collective exhibition. Pompano Beach Cultural Center, FL, USA. Jan 14-Mar 30
2017 Solvilandia: Self-portraits. Solo exhibition. Teather El Vitral, Buenos Aires, Argentina
ART FAIRS
2022 Aqua Art Miami, stand 119 Latin American Art Pavilion (LAAP), Miami Beach, FL, USA. Nov 30 – Dec 4
2021 Red Dot Miami, stand Agora Gallery, Mana Wynwood, Miami, FL, USA. Dec 1-5
BADA 2021, 9th edition of Buenos Aires Direct from Artist, La Rural, Fairground of the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Oct 14-17.
2019 SUMA: arte + joyas, Berni Pavilion of the Borges Cultural Center, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Oct 2-6
BADA 2019, 8th edition of Buenos Aires Direct from Artist, La Rural, Fairground of the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Aug 29 – Sep 1