Earthy

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Isabella Despujols is a young visual artist from Venezuela with a focus on handmade  embroidery. Despujols graduated with a BFA from the International University of Art and  Design in Miami and holds a degree in Art History from the University of Palermo in Buenos  Aires. 

Isabella's work reflects her own history, born from her earliest visual references. "My  parents are architects, and I grew up surrounded by geometric drawings of projects they  worked on. They also collected Venezuelan artists with geometric abstract works, so the  first works of art I encountered already posed that language. For me, geometry is the basis  of my first influences, and of the strong tradition of these movements in my country, which  grew out of great masters such as Cruz-Diez and Jesús Soto. I pay homage to both in my  work." 

For the artist, embroidery is currently her favorite discursive medium. Due to her knowledge  of oil painting (she was trained in Fine Arts with a specialization in painting) she develops a  technique in which she works the embroidery as if it were painting: "I embroider layers of colors that are juxtaposed and form new colors, resulting in that chromatic degradation that is perceived in all the works." 

When it comes to creating, there are two universes that particularly inspire Isabella: Kinetic  Art, especially the artists Cruz Diez and Jesús Soto, and embroidery and its feminine  tradition. Isabella combines these two universes. She takes the legacy of these artists and  translates it with lines and the imperfections of manual work. Her main objective has to do  with extending or expanding what we know as embroidery and its characteristics, which are  often figurative images, utilitarian, and domestic, and combining it with kinetic art to  elevate it, so that it ceases to be a craft and instead, becomes fine art. 

Education

BA, Art History, University of Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2020) BFA, International University of Art and Design in Miami (2014)