Verônica Alkmim França — Contemporary Art Curator Magazine

Apr 26

Apr 26 Verônica Alkmim França

Biography

Verônica Alkmim França is a Brazilian born artist living and working in Stockholm and Brazil. Her works includes photography, installation, wearables, sculptures, embroidery, textiles etc...
Her frequent travel between Brazil and Sweden has fostered in her a certain turning away from conventional artistic venues.
Verônica is one of the pioneers in Brazil by the introduction of ”wearable art” in the early 90s, where her work has been extensively exhibited in museums and cultural institutions as the Palacio das Artes in Belo Horizonte, the Fundação Cultural in Curitiba, The Fundação Cultural Oswald de Andrade in Sao Paulo, the Casa das Rosas in Sao Paulo, thus inspiring emerging generations.
In Sweden she has received the support of institutions to present her work. Thus, in Europe and in Asia she has had exhibitions in venues such as the Barbican Centre in London; the Museu Nacional do Traje in Lisbon; the Kulturhuset, in Stockholm; the Dunkerskulturhus, in Helsinborg; the Gallery 32 in London, the Craft Bienal in Cheongju in South Korea; and the Anna Akhmatova Museum, in Saint Petersburg.
Currently, Veronica’s work is being structured and cataloged in order to make possible more choices in the field of art and culture.

Artist Statement

Verônica Alkmim França works reflect her cultural identity since her frequent travel between Brazil and Sweden has fostered in her a certain turning away from conventional artistic venues. Always divided into territories, deprived of essential conditions, submitted to the time and logic of the market, Verônica express all of the subjects related to her own life, including ethical and aesthetic codes, nationality, and migration, and even to belonging or not belonging to groups that make up society.
THE HOUSEWIFE is a collection of images in limited edition and signed by the artist. The project is inspired by the condition of the woman in society. The production was created in the photography studio and registered as a unique moment in time. The result is a visual narrative akin to the theme that inspired it.
While the artist researches and plays in distinct medias, she uses many ordinary objects and domestic situations in her sculptural works and transforms them into creative representations of the female body and other significant approaches. This metaphorical use of everyday objects to speak of important issues is a central point of the artist’s production which results often in a specific scenario that captures her entire creative process.

What first prompted you to think of becoming an artist?

I was basically self-taught and my first artistic expression was at the age of 2 when, after watching a circus performance, I designed it for my grandfather. Later I began to take an artistic path by creating doll's clothes. I was born in Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil, but grew up in Belo Horizonte, the capital of the state. Diamantina, a village that emerged as an island of wealth in the midst of a largely unexplored region was subject to the sufferings of plundering during colonization and had a precipitous decline. Diamantina has been designated as a National Cultural Heritage site due to its Baroque architectural history which influenced me greatly in my artistic endeavours. Vacations during my childhood in Diamantina provided fundamental training for my future life as an artist. I was exposed to a culture rich in traditional liturgical enactments, music, photography, shiny accessories and embroideries, picturesque stories and history. My mother, grandmothers and aunts were skilled seamstresses and my maternal grandfather was a photographer. Since then I began to see, observe and activate my curiosity to learn what is inside or how things are made or taken apart.

What kind of an artist do you ultimately see yourself?

For me, the most important thing is to have the freedom to create independently of any set parameters or definitions. So, my work goes through several expressions, since I research and engage in distinct media. The results can be either in photography, installation, wearables, sculptures, embroidery, textiles etc...

What are you hoping to communicate to the viewer through your work?

I’m a Brazilian born artist living and working in Sweden for many years. I want my art to serve as a communicative tool in society, to be a conversation and not a lecture. In order to do this, I seek to break down the barriers which make art seem like something mystical and impossible for ordinary people to understand. I seek in my art to recognize the existentialism in everyday life, to achieve a sort of integrity or balance in the individual and society. My work consistently explores the unity of body and soul, the mundane and the spiritual.

Can you explain the process of creating your work?

The focus of my work process has been everyday creativity. Objects as helpmates, as human debris, as products of a consumer-oriented society that can be creatively transformed and be reborn as something new. My creative process also reflects my cultural identity since my frequent travel between Brazil and Sweden has fostered in me a certain turning away from conventional artistic venues. Always divided into territories, deprived of essential conditions, submitted to the time and logic of the market, I express all of the subjects related to my own life, including ethical and aesthetic codes, nationality, and migration, and even to belonging or not belonging to groups that make up society.

What is your favourite part of the creative process?

I’m far from social networks, and always question the trend of mass consumption and the culture of excess and its changing aesthetics in today's world. What fascinates me most are the unexpected situations, what we cannot control and from all of this, the human capacity for expression because words are often deficient and non-verbal communication has an unlimited range.

Can you give us an insight into current projects and inspiration, or what we can look forward to from you in the near future?

I´ve been researching the "state of the art", through the effects of the consumer society, of the rapid destruction of the environment, and of the stress on what is considered a modern society that increasingly covers itself in the illusion of completeness. The world and societies are widely connected. Technology connects us but distances us as well. I look for another place in my art, where a “real” connection can be possible. My production is intense and I've been developing diverse modules in the last few years. However, some have not been available or published. Currently, I´ve been structuring and cataloguing my works in order to create more choices in the field of art and culture. Thus, exhibitions, events, and circumstances can be more constructive, creative, and interesting for the public.

Website www.veronicaaf.com

Instagram @veronicaalkmimfranca