During her residency at ´ace Laura Pawson worked at a site-specific installation in the Transversal Space. Graduated from the prestigious Art Institute of Chicago, Laura is a young artist who has spent these last years in Chicago and who upon completing her residency in Buenos Aires will return to New York to continue her career.

ARTIST’S TESTIMONY

Culture can be defined by the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a certain social, age, or ethnic group. Contemporary society tends to confuse the lines that separate the concept of race with that of culture. My work attempts to explore these territories by examining how these concepts overlap to define new prejudices.

In my work I use collages of fabrics and photography elements to convey these ideas. By integrating materials and concepts, I intend to push the viewer to re-evaluate their ideas and moral structures. Each viewer approaches the work with its preconceived principles but through interaction with it can reach a point where they reflect and examine their personal and social morals.

The text that I choose is a sample, often of conversations that I have had or stories that I have lived. I intend to include the text to question and provoke reflection beyond what is generated through the media, the geography of popular culture and the environment. I am interested in the history, events, and personal stories of interracial couples, mixed race individuals, racial property and identity, degrees of color, and sexuality associated with race.

I work to further identify myself, define and explore the concept and meaning of “whiteness”. I am interested in people who perceive and identify themselves with a culture that is not claimed as their own, in the connection of contemporary points of view with historical ones and to what extent these perceptions continue to be valid today, working towards a broader social and personal conversation.