Grimanesa Amorós Has Something to Say About Hope
Grimanesa Amorós Doesn’t Give Up
The Peruvian-born artist has created acclaimed light art, sculptures, and installations across the globe, often in some of the most inhospitable climates. But each time, it still feels like the first.
Grimanesa Amorós is a Peruvian-American light artist whose work draws from South American cultural legacies and the communities surrounding her sculptures. She has exhibited and created works in Finland, Venice, Paris, Beijing, and New York’s Times Square. Amorós has received the Bronx Museum of the Arts: AIM Alumni Artist Award (NY), The National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artist Fellowship (Washington, DC), (among others) and has collaborated with top musicians and creatives, including Grammy-nominated Meshell Ndegeocello, actress Maya Hawke, and the World Monuments Fund.
Slow Ghost: You have been doing so much lately. I’m happy you were able to make this interview work before your next project.
Grimanesa: Luckily, I had the month here in New York, so my studio trumped everything. I had four lectures; I am so grateful to have work I could share with others. That’s the important part!
Someone once told me, “work begets more work”, and it’s stuck with me.
For me, it’s about recommendations. I am selective about the proposals we choose to participate in. Imagine if we spent all our time making proposals that didn’t go anywhere. Like many architect friends, you would be required to have a studio section dedicated to proposals.
Not enough people know that it’s not just about endlessly applying – most is your network.
Many of my projects come from people seeing my work in a space and liking it or something that made them think. Sometimes, they call from different states and countries, and I ask how they heard about me. Many, if not most, say, “Well, I saw your work at XYZ, and it made an impression,” or something like that.
I’d love to hear how you got into art.
I want to share that part of my practice in my lectures. It provides people with a clearer understanding of where my work is coming from. For example, I’m obsessed with domes and bubble shapes and the organicity of my work – it is because I grew up in Lima, Peru. Peru is a very biodiverse country. It’s the desert, the mountains, the Andes, and then you have the Amazon. The jungles have these incredible, different types of biodiversity, not only in the plants but also in the types of animals. Growing up by the Pacific Ocean, I experienced its ferocity; the waves and, at the shore, these formations of sea foam became very sculptural and moved and reflected with the sun. When I was little, I started poking them. I studied them and was fascinated by how the light reflected on them.
Later, I made an incredible trip to Iceland, where I encountered the Northern Lights. It changed my life. I started thinking, “If I could only share this with others, wouldn’t it be amazing?” It took two years to come up with ideas on how to share this ephemeral part of life. I had a moment when I thought, “Should I take my camera and take pictures? Or should I just leave the moment absorbed?”
Looking behind the lens detaches you from being totally immersed in yourself. Of course, I chose to live in the moment. I don’t have any pictures, but that’s how I started working with light in 2000.
