ESTHER ELENA PEA
Tenerife, 1994
Working with the idea of nature -on the island of Tenerife- through artistic practice allows me to establish visual, analytical and critical proposals. I connect concepts that are frequently assumed in our society and my own individual experiences. My main objective is to make a holistic complex image of this idea in order to address notions such as landscape and territory.
Generally speaking, nature is perceived by Western society as a dual concept. First, it Works outside humanity and escapes human control: landscapes – beaches, mountains or canyons, among others – and animals and plants – as well as their developments and interactions – are perceived as natural spaces. Secondly, nature also defines every gesture, attitude, quality or predisposition that is given or arises spontaneously in each person – by opposition to nurture ones which come from learning, training, habits or experiences). In this way, paradoxically, nature is at the same time what is outside of us and what is within each one of us.
This perception leads me to be interested in the role of the detective and the naturalist and their procedures. Both investigate and collect data from the environment in order to generate a story that is consistent with the panorama. In this way, my artistic approaches are carried out from: ‘field work’ – making tours and drifts in public spaces – and ‘study processes’ – conversations and reflections on what develops in each space that leads me to establish abstract relationships between physical, theoretical and formal spaces. Performing in concrete places and events, results in site-specific exhibitions.
