Lorena Morales, Venezuela / United States / Angola
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In her work, Lorena Morales explores deeply personal themes of home and cultural identity, and reference feelings of nostalgia as well as ever-evolving expectations. As someone who left her country of birth, Venezuela, to build a new life in Texas, and once again in Angola, Africa, she is inspired to create by the places she sees and visits, and the people she meets. Through her artistic practice, she is continuously exploring what it means to embrace a new cultural identity, while also protecting the one she has brought with her.
Her most recent series, Embracing, arose out her experience living as an expat in Angola, in Soyo, a small town bordering the Congo River. The works contemplate the relationship between color, lines and shapes that appear, and disappear, according to the changing light, or based on the position and angle of the viewer. The experience is often dynamic, pointing to the relationship between the materiality of the media, and the immateriality of light and shadow -- not unlike what it feels like to question the meaning of ‘home’ and ‘culture,’ in an unfolding search for similarity, or what is absent, in new and unfamiliar environments. |
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Lorena Morales is a contemporary visual artist currently based in Houston, USA, and Angola, Africa. Born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Morales holds certificates in painting and sculpture from the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, as well as a degree in Business Administration. She recently completed the Block XIX Program at the Glassell School of Art, and was also awarded a grant by the Carlos Cruz-Diez Foundation and the Glassell School of Art for participation in an Advanced Seminar in Contemporary Art.
Morales’ work has been exhibited extensively in Texas, as well as nationally and internationally, in Venezuela and Germany. Her work is held in the permanent collection of the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston (2016), as well as in many other public and private collections.
Lorena Morales is represented by Hooks-Epstein Galleries in Houston, TX, CamibaArt Gallery in Austin, TX Contemporáneo in Asheville, NC, Art Nouveau Gallery in Miami, FL and 700 Arte in Venezuela.
Morales’ work has been exhibited extensively in Texas, as well as nationally and internationally, in Venezuela and Germany. Her work is held in the permanent collection of the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston (2016), as well as in many other public and private collections.
Lorena Morales is represented by Hooks-Epstein Galleries in Houston, TX, CamibaArt Gallery in Austin, TX Contemporáneo in Asheville, NC, Art Nouveau Gallery in Miami, FL and 700 Arte in Venezuela.