Carola Bravo
Bio
Carola Bravo was born in Caracas, Venezuela. She currently lives and works in Miami, Florida. She holds a Ph.D. in Architecture (2016) and a MA. in Art History (2003) from the Universidad Central de Venezuela, as well as a BSc in Architecture from the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, USA (1987). Her work has been exhibited at art galleries, museums and cultural institutions in the USA and abroad. She has received several awards, recognitions and public art commissions in important sites such as Royal Caribbean’s Innovation Lab in Miami Port and Baptist Hospital in Doral, Florida.
With a solid background in Architecture, Bravo’s work ranges from immersive site-specific video and art installation, to public art in which she draws and experiments with real and virtual exercises using her own body. Her artwork shows an exploration of mixed realities addressing space, memory, changing territories, and geometry.
Bravo is a former Titular Professor, Chair of the Architecture and Art Department and Head of the Art Section at the Simon Bolívar University in Caracas, Venezuela. With a commitment to art education, in 2014, she founded HARTVEST PROJECT, an art venture with the mission of promoting art appreciation and collecting.
Statement
The perception of reality and its relationship with space is the guiding thread of my artwork. It allows me to consider the concept of “inhabiting the space” as the first sign of our existence. I believe “inhabiting the space” is the best way to affirm our presence through time in one place. It has implications that deal with activating our memory and connecting. Thus, the space is my point of departure, touching that uncertain border between the real and its representation and meditating about people, places, and architecture as a container of memories.
My studio work, primarily based on drawn maps with routes of connections, transforms into site-specific installations and video installations that express a self-reflective dimension in the space and public art, connecting to the built environment.
There has been a clear guiding thread that links all my artwork. Throughout time, I have explored the themes of change, memory, exile, hope, and all the implications of their conceptual relationship with space and time. The physical thread involves expressing a referential sense, where the convergence of different modalities (drawing, installation, and video) activates spaces through complex interventions.
For the Ciconia Art Collection, I created “The space within you” an artwork that shows an inhabited space. Each of you receives a unique map with drawings and precise lines that appear incessantly in the piece. I hope this map can guide you to your most precious world!
