María Isabella Arenas Hernández, student of the IX semester of Plastic Arts at the Institute of Regional Projection and Distance Education (Ipred), of the Industrial University of Santander (UIS), is one of the artists invited to the international exchange exhibition “Intersection” to be held in Bucaramanga (Colombia) and Catalonia (Spain).
With the work in graphite on paper entitled “Wandering Souls” the UIS student participates in “Intersection”
“12 artists from Latin America and 12 from Spain are going to participate, the exhibition will initially be at the Bucaramanga Museum of Modern Art (Mamb), from April 7 to 29 and then all the works will be exhibited in Catalonia (Spain) from on July 9 and throughout the month.
With the work in graphite on paper entitled “Wandering Souls” the UIS student participates in “Intersection”
She added that “the manager of this exhibition in Colombia is Angélica Ramírez, who advanced some semesters of Plastic Arts at the UIS. In Spain, it is led by the Venezuelan artist Jaime Moroldo Lira, who works at the “La Rectory” Art Center, where the exhibition will take place and which is located in Sant Pere de Vilamajor (Vallès Oriental, Barcelona, Catalonia) and was the curator in charge of selecting the works”.
She is visibly excited to participate on behalf of the Industrial University of Santander, indicating that her participation is given with a work in which she shows her specialty, which is drawing with graphite.
“For me it is a great advance because I am quite young and exhibiting abroad is quite expensive and complicated, especially to find a serious place that sponsors the exhibition, this has to do with the contacts that one makes as he advances in the race and by participating in what he sees that can be useful to him,” added Arenas Hernández.
The objective of the exhibition is to show the diversity of techniques (graphite, textiles, acrylic, photography) and themes addressed by artists in Latin America, including representatives from Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, like Mary Menez and Fidel Castro.
About “Wandering Souls” he explains “it is a piece that starts from the psychological sequels left by the traumas experienced in childhood, such as violent carnal abuse, verbal abuse, and abandonment, these experiences are reflected in the subconscious and usually manifest through of night terrors of infants. With my work, I seek to give a face to those horrors and create a reflection in the viewer, from a carefully elaborated drawing that has something to tell in every corner that is observed.
With the work “Wandering Souls” made with the graphite technique on paper, the future teacher in Plastic Arts UIS participates for the first time in an exhibition with these characteristics.
This international experience is added to the exhibitions that she has done at the Mamb where, in addition, she has won several calls. Likewise, she was invited in 2019 to exhibit at the Embassy of Spain, where she had the opportunity to present her works alongside Colombian artists and artists from the Iberian country.
To the current and future students of Plastic Arts at the Universidad Industrial de Santander, she expresses: “since I was little I always knew that I was going to study at the UIS like my parents, brothers and cousins did. I decided that I wanted this career because the name of the UIS is very powerful, it has done very well for me, and the name of the University supports me a lot. Although there are empirical artists, having a degree from a University like the UIS gives a lot of power to the work and accessibility to the different exhibitions and competitions in which one can participate”.
She added that “I have not finished my degree, but so far it has gone very well, I have already been able to exhibit in Bogotá, Bucaramanga, and virtually with Spain. Almost always one is asked if one is pursuing a career, therefore it is worth studying, it is worth having a professional degree and, above all, choosing a university that has a powerful name that supports one, such as the UIS”.
To continue her training, through a postgraduate course abroad, this young promise of the plastic arts is already preparing to carry out an exchange in Zaragoza (Spain), because she is very clear that “an artist has to give himself knowing and constantly showing his work”.