Location: Colombia
Beatriz started her art journey as a botanical illustrator for ethnobotanic projects. She has taken art classes at Universidad de los Andes and Universidad Nacional, and private lessons with Nelly Rojas (drawing) and Alice Salazar (Watercolour). Drawing is at the heart of her work, and it has benefited from courses on children's book illustration and printmaking (Cambridge School of Art) and experimental making (Tate Britain, 2016). Beatriz has exhibited in Colombia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
She combines art with her passion for education, particularly in the field of sustainability and environmental issues, developing two branches of art: painting and conceptual art. For example, at the moment she is exhibiting at the Menier Gallery (London), with two paintings inspired by Frida Kahlo. Further, she is developing an art education project called RawTag on the intersections between education, ethics and fashion, developed in collaboration with the Royal Opera House-Bridge and presented in the Cambridge Sustainability Residency (2015).
My art is inspired by scientific botanic illustrations celebrating women botanists and their contribution to science, and offering a modern view of how to look at nature. I rely on drawing and visual reflection as the starting point of my work, which is expressed in paintings, collage and illustration. I am interested in beauty and art-based methodologies informing educational practices and pedagogies for sustainability. I am wholeheartedly committed to spread the message about sustainability and to claim attention about climate change and its devastating effects for the planet. With my drawings I aim at celebrating the exuberance of tropical forests around the world, and particularly from the Amazon, where I come from.
Title: Acai:
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Year: 2016
The Acai is a very important palm for the Amazon people. Its berry is an important part of their diet, and now it is also considered as one of the super-foods. It it is said that having a shower of acai flowers in the new moon protects you against any ailments and attracts love. In the Tikuna wisdom, the dragonfly is the guardian of this precious and important plant. This is part of the Series: People+Palms based on the research of Anthropologist Lucia Prado. These series represent the relationship of these wonderful plants with the indigenous communities in the Colombian Amazon.
“Acai”
