Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the world I grew up in was infused with a surreal vision for events and happenings that took on magical qualities and informed my day to day life. When I moved to the United States to get by BFA from Tufts University, this search for the magical elements around me continued. I became involved with a group of artists from a variety of backgrounds utilizing public and neglected spaces to create site-specific instillations and performances. The interdisciplinary and avant-garde approach to these events instilled in me a lifelong curiosity of the melding of form, space, color, and storytelling to create works that imagine new worlds, beings, and characters while grounding them in aspects of reality.
My first commissioned work was the Puerto Rican Tea House for the Cambridge River Festival, and was born from a dream I had about ritual, history, and community. It combined elements of the physical detritus so often washed ashore on the island, the verdant abundance of our flora and fauna, and the formal rituals of a Japanese Tea Ceremony. This project received great reviews and led to a Fellowship in Sculpture from the Massachusetts Artist Foundation.
Moving to New York in 1992, I continued the exploration into site-specific work. Several other fellowships followed including the Mid Atlantic Regional Fellowship for Sculpture and inclusion in the Marie Walsh Foundation Studio Program.
In 2006 I moved to Venice, California, where drawings became a better form of expression for the whimsical and fluid lines that collaging materials allowed. The layering of paradoxical images to my organic imagery has allowed me to tell stories and commentary of what we presently live.
Luminas are the latest works integrating three dimensional objects to my surfaces. These feminine gravitational superstars live in between heaven and earth. They serve as emissaries of ideas and live among us, however not always visible to the eye.
Contact:
Email: MarlenLugoArt@gmail.com
Instagram: @magiclava