Strangers Painting

Monika Gabrys I was born in Cracow, Poland, however, since 2004 I live and represent Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. I am binational since 2009. I have a career of more than 20 years in painting and in the medium of visual arts. I have dedicated myself to painting, drawing, collage, I have experimented with engraving, contemporary textile art, installations, conceptual art and action art. As a painter I have been active since 1995, after having won first place in a local art festival FEKUSZ and I am still active, since in addition to the Master's artistic project I have just finished the other, selected and supported by the Merida Municipal Fund for the Visual Arts. My main focus is painting, although the label of the painter conflicts me, since my personal search has led me to experiment in different fields and with different media, that is, my position is flexible and open towards what is called interdisciplinary and trans art. I also have a Bachelor of Nursing degree (Institute of Human Sciences INCIH) and experience gained at the Medical Center of the Americas (CMA) and the Agustín O'Horán General Hospital, the fact that at first glance it could be seen as very abstracted from art . However, I consider it an extension of the same search that motivates me to make art, because in recent times, innumerable aspects have been opened that can be used in artistic paths. Painting seems to be a relic of the past, and yet it is still alive, because the act of painting accompanies the human being practically from the beginning. That is why my idea of two-dimensional painting and art oscillates around the questions —which are in accordance with my line of research—: How could painting, located in time and space, be reconciled with the accelerated and paradoxical transformations of contemporary world? How to figure and represent —through painting— our situation in space and time inevitably linking to the computerized and globally interconnected world-space? Because, definitely, we are facing a complex world, with an excess of information, images, screens, references and, now, a post-pandemic world. By choosing this medium (painting) I place myself again in "between” (which is part of my research). I am currently counter-producing with the collective "Des-obra".