Beall Center Art + Ecology Series: Carolina Caycedo

Carolina Caycedo will discuss her body of work that addresses humanity’s relationship with nature. Informed by Indigenous philosophies, Caycedo’s art challenges us to understand nature not as a resource to be exploited, but as a living and spiritual entity that unites people beyond borders. Her innovative approach integrates her studio practice with actions in communities affected by mining, damming, and other resource extraction projects by corporations and governments. Caycedo’s work invites viewers to consider the unsustainable pace of growth under capitalism—and how we might bolster resistance, solidarity, and cultural and environmental biodiversity. Carolina will speak to her recent survey show, From the Bottom of the River (2021, MCA Chicago) and share a new body of work titled Blessings of the Mystery (2022 Ballroom Marfa). Moderated by UCI Professor Jessica Pratt from the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences.

Bio:

Carolina Caycedo (Colombian; b. London, England,1978; lives and works in Los Angeles) is a multidisciplinary artist known for her performances, videos, artist’s books, sculptures, and installations that examine environmental and social issues. Her work contributes to the construction of environmental historical memory as a fundamental element for non-repetition of violence against human and nonhuman entities. She lives and works in Los Angeles. She is a 2021-2022 inaugural U.S. Latinx Artist Fellow and the 2020-2022 inaugural Borderlands Fellow at the Center for Imagination in the Borderlands at Arizona State University (ASU) and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School.