Cecilia Paredes frequently utilizes natural elements, often recycled waste materials and primarily organic ones, in her installations.
14 Facts About Cecilia Paredes
1.
2.
Cecilia Paredes studied Plastic Arts in the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, in the Cambridge Arts and Crafts School in England and the Scuola del Nudo of the Academy of Fine Art in Rome.
3.
Cecilia Paredes completed residencies at the University of Pennsylvania and the Banff Centre of Canada.
4.
Cecilia Paredes lived in Mexico for 5 years and in Costa Rica for almost 25 years.
5.
Cecilia Paredes has been an invited international artist in the Feria FIA de Caracas in 2008.
6.
Cecilia Paredes's works have been exhibited in places such as the Tabacalera Promocion del Arte, the Hermitage Museum, the Vladimir Palace and the Museo de la Fotografia.
7.
Cecilia Paredes herself is often the central subject not only of her performances but of her photographs and art, and yet, frequently she is not recognized and appears hidden among the natural materials that she uses, or appears blended and transformed into folds of fabric.
8.
Cecilia Paredes is primarily known for her permanent photo series "Paisajes" in which she explores the juxtaposition of her body with patterns and the surfaces beneath it.
9.
Reviews of her shows have stated that Cecilia Paredes intentionally puts the viewer off-balance by "erasing the line between body and background, throwing what's real into question in both the artist and her backdrop, and Cecilia Paredes rips off the stable ground beneath her viewers' feet".
10.
Maria Jose Monge, Curator of Visual Arts of the Museo of the Banco Central of Costa Rica, explains that during the time that Cecilia Paredes lived in Costa Rica she began the precedent of the developing object works and installations, using natural resources as primary source material and in the use of the body itself as a reference and expressive medium.
11.
Cecilia Paredes recognizes in her work the influence of Kiki Smith, Louise Bourgeois, William Kentridge and Anselm Kiefer.
12.
One of Cecilia Paredes' photographs has been used as cover art for a reprint of the Brian Moore novel Judith Hearn, which was later republished and produced as a stage play and film "The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearn".
13.
Cecilia Paredes' works served as the inspiration for Argentinean actress and singer Mia Maestro in her 2014 music video "Blue Eyed Sailor", directed by Guillermo Navarro and Juan Azulay.
14.
Cecilia Paredes has collaborated with him, incorporating video into live musical performances, such as The Gift to Urashima Taro.