Born in Argentina, LatinAmerica (Dec.1980)
Currently based in Portugal
BA Film Studies 2000·2004
University of Buenos Aires | Argentina
Photography 2007·2008
AFPRA Professional Photographers Association of Argentina
Master’s Degree Studies of sexual difference Ongoing
University of Barcelona | Spain
Last presentations 2018·2017
Exhibition and Artist talk: Feedback and The Nurture & Care Project.
International conference Endangered Bodies: Representing and Policing the Body in Western Culture · Lisbon · Portugal
Artist talk: Conceptualising migrant motherhood through Photography. Motherhood Migration Mobility Symposium · Maynooth University · Ireland
Video presentation and exhibition The Nurture & Care Project. Women’s Hospital Education Center (Guilford County Breastfeeding Alliance). Greensboro · North Carolina · USA
TED Talk format presentation about The Nurture & Care Project. 12º Breastfeeding and Feminism International Conference. Chapel Hill · North Carolina · USA.
Recent publications 2018·2017
Social Documentary Network (USA)
Natural Parent Magazine (New Zealand)
Journal of Human Lactation (USA)
Praeclarus Press Excellence in Women’s Health (USA)
www.valeriaalvesdaflorencia.com
The Private & the Public: Women in Brig-Glis
I work mainly in documentary narratives, through Photography. For the community of Brig-Glis I want to contribute a new point of reflection about the current role of women in the canton of Valais in general, and of Brig-Glis in particular. I am interested in delving into the dialectical dichotomy of the private and the public, as spaces of action visually seen as different but experientially felt as intertwined. Women's creative/productive role is currently played outside home, even though the traditional role of women is still often focused on the domestic space. I want to rethink the roots of this traditional thought, considering as a significant fact that female vote was achieved in Valais in 1957 -several decades earlier than in the rest of Switzerland.
I will also meditate on which extent the natural space of the Alps may condition the feminine gaze and the particular way of seeing the world beyond. This would be experimented also starting by myself as I’ve never been based in a snowy, mountain surrounded environment.
In my documentary work I create a bond by talking, asking, and contrasting information inwards and in dialogue with myself, with my previous experiences with other communities in other countries. This "entering into dialogue" forges a triangle response: a personal reflection of the women involved (themselves), a visual result of that experience (art pieces), and the possibility to collectively reflect through those pieces (community experience). This private/public dichotomy can be resignified from this artistic production. I intend to depart from myself and get involved with the environment to put self-reflection into play, making the community the main character and, from there, develop my art production. My aim is to generate and give away something new for this community, in terms of approach to the topic.
Accessing the inner universe is touching a sacred space. Each woman carries within herself a generational heritage and a personal memory. This is what I seek to document: the traces of the crossing between the present and the past in the individual experience.
Proposed methodology
Even though my main medium of work is Photography, in this residency I will take the time to experiment new media, also integrating other resources I already work with:
· Fountain pen and ink experimentation
· Handmade photographic transfer on canvas
· Instant photography
· Short text writing
I will work mainly in studio, inviting local women to be part of an individual sensorial experience connected with natural objects I will personally select from their land (Brig-Glis), reflecting through this process about the meaning of Silence, Private life and Public life. This will be a totally personal process, in which they will be free to express themselves in the best way possible for them.
This space of reflection will be the ferment and the departure point for my artwork production.
The privacy and name of each participant will be secured by me with the utmost confidentiality.
Currently based in Portugal
BA Film Studies 2000·2004
University of Buenos Aires | Argentina
Photography 2007·2008
AFPRA Professional Photographers Association of Argentina
Master’s Degree Studies of sexual difference Ongoing
University of Barcelona | Spain
Last presentations 2018·2017
Exhibition and Artist talk: Feedback and The Nurture & Care Project.
International conference Endangered Bodies: Representing and Policing the Body in Western Culture · Lisbon · Portugal
Artist talk: Conceptualising migrant motherhood through Photography. Motherhood Migration Mobility Symposium · Maynooth University · Ireland
Video presentation and exhibition The Nurture & Care Project. Women’s Hospital Education Center (Guilford County Breastfeeding Alliance). Greensboro · North Carolina · USA
TED Talk format presentation about The Nurture & Care Project. 12º Breastfeeding and Feminism International Conference. Chapel Hill · North Carolina · USA.
Recent publications 2018·2017
Social Documentary Network (USA)
Natural Parent Magazine (New Zealand)
Journal of Human Lactation (USA)
Praeclarus Press Excellence in Women’s Health (USA)
www.valeriaalvesdaflorencia.com
The Private & the Public: Women in Brig-Glis
I work mainly in documentary narratives, through Photography. For the community of Brig-Glis I want to contribute a new point of reflection about the current role of women in the canton of Valais in general, and of Brig-Glis in particular. I am interested in delving into the dialectical dichotomy of the private and the public, as spaces of action visually seen as different but experientially felt as intertwined. Women's creative/productive role is currently played outside home, even though the traditional role of women is still often focused on the domestic space. I want to rethink the roots of this traditional thought, considering as a significant fact that female vote was achieved in Valais in 1957 -several decades earlier than in the rest of Switzerland.
I will also meditate on which extent the natural space of the Alps may condition the feminine gaze and the particular way of seeing the world beyond. This would be experimented also starting by myself as I’ve never been based in a snowy, mountain surrounded environment.
In my documentary work I create a bond by talking, asking, and contrasting information inwards and in dialogue with myself, with my previous experiences with other communities in other countries. This "entering into dialogue" forges a triangle response: a personal reflection of the women involved (themselves), a visual result of that experience (art pieces), and the possibility to collectively reflect through those pieces (community experience). This private/public dichotomy can be resignified from this artistic production. I intend to depart from myself and get involved with the environment to put self-reflection into play, making the community the main character and, from there, develop my art production. My aim is to generate and give away something new for this community, in terms of approach to the topic.
Accessing the inner universe is touching a sacred space. Each woman carries within herself a generational heritage and a personal memory. This is what I seek to document: the traces of the crossing between the present and the past in the individual experience.
Proposed methodology
Even though my main medium of work is Photography, in this residency I will take the time to experiment new media, also integrating other resources I already work with:
· Fountain pen and ink experimentation
· Handmade photographic transfer on canvas
· Instant photography
· Short text writing
I will work mainly in studio, inviting local women to be part of an individual sensorial experience connected with natural objects I will personally select from their land (Brig-Glis), reflecting through this process about the meaning of Silence, Private life and Public life. This will be a totally personal process, in which they will be free to express themselves in the best way possible for them.
This space of reflection will be the ferment and the departure point for my artwork production.
The privacy and name of each participant will be secured by me with the utmost confidentiality.
