Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Liliana Folta. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Liliana, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

All my projects are meaningful to me, I like to create with a conscious mind exploring concepts by observation and research. In mixed media installations I practice integration with repurposed materials and found objects.

If I have to choose only one meaningful project, “Ghost of the Seas” is very close to my heart, an installation with handmade ceramics, repurposed cut glass gems and dead corals and shells collected from the shore of Playa Buyé in Puerto Rico.

This was a small area, away from a public beach and only appears during the summer, because in the low season it is covered by the high tide. I was intrigued by the amount of dead, bleached coral and shells on the shore and decided to collect some pieces for a future project.

This is special for me because I have a deep connection with the island, I lived there for eighteen years and I consider it my second country since I formed my own family on “la isla del encanto” (the enchanted island), as the locals call it.

The following year I had the opportunity to present the smaller-scale installation at the Berlin Science Week at the Humboldt University of Berlin – Thaer Institute, with the intention of raising awareness about the disappearance of coral reefs around the world due to increase in ocean temperatures caused by climate change and pollution.

This year it will be shown for the first time in the United States at the LexArt Center for Arts and Crafts Society in Massachusetts – Mar 23 – Apr 21

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I am an interdisciplinary artist currently living in Massachusetts. My parents, from Italy and Poland, were immigrants of the post WWII. They settled in the city of Olavarría until the end of their days. My European cultural heritage is very present in me and the memories periodically appear in my artworks.

After leaving my country in times of military repression, I had the great opportunity to get involved in multicultural environments living in different parts of the world: Puerto Rico, throughout the United States and Europe. I apply this wide range of influences to my works.

I have been a nomadic person since my youth and decided to study art when I was in my early 30’s. I went to Tarrant County College in Texas and took every art class that inspired me with two distinguished art professors, Karmien Bowman and Richard Hlad. They gave me the freedom to express myself without the pressure of academic restriction, which I am grateful for.

My artistic disciplines include painting, sculpture, ceramic, installation and mixed media. I like to work by project and not necessarily in series. The topics of my works arise unexpectedly either from what is happening in the moment or from what I keep in my memory bank. They represent the challenges we face as humans and my concern for how natural ecosystems react to society’s behavior. I choose the medium that inspires me for that particular project and include recycled and repurposed material in the mixed media works.

For many years, I have been working on environmental topics, such as glaciers, coral reefs and most recently, the biodiversity crisis. I research and practice sustainable gardening and I become a native plant advocate, helping people to understand its importance by raising awareness through my art.

Gardening is a practice I learned in my childhood. My father’s backyard was my playground and as I remember him working on his garden, (when organic methods were not a thing, but the  only way of doing it) I can apply his expertise in my own yard and be inspired for my creative process.

After living in Puerto Rico for many years, I moved with my husband and son – my two amazing supporters in my artistic journey – to Midway Artist Studios in Fort Point, an artist living/working space in Boston, where I was involved  in collaboration with artists to curate projects, participated in open studios and exhibitions.

From 2015 to 2019, I lived in Berlin, Germany where I presented environmental and social-political projects in international cultural platforms, such as Berlin Science Week at Humboldt University; François Schneider Foundation Contemporary Art Centre, France; Art in the Gerichtshöfen, Berlin Germany; Group Global 3000 Sustainable Art Gallery for the Berlin Art Week. These venues gave me the opportunity to present my works to an international audience.

I was a guest artist at the 1st. Biennial of the Americas at Museum of the Americas, Denver Colorado and Cluj – Napoca International Biennial of Contemporary Ceramic, Museum of Art Romania.

I am a grant recipient of New England Foundation for the Arts, Massachusetts Cultural Council and Artrepreneur.

Member of the Climate Art Collection in Berlin, Germany and Fort Point Arts Community, Boston.

Is there a mission driving your creative journey?

Climate action is crucial in the art sector, as an artist I feel it is my responsibility to communicate, inspire and raise awareness about the crisis the Planet is going through.

My goal is to motivate the viewers through my works on the climate and biodiversity crisis, because we are all connected.

During the pandemic I was inspired by an organization that makes native gardens and meadows for biodiversity. I joined the opportunity to research and learn about the importance of planting native plants for pollinators, so they can continue the natural process of the ecosystem.

This experience led me to collaborate on an international exhibition with women artists that I met in my travels.

Almost two years in the making, twenty one artists from different parts of the world presented their works at Midway Gallery in Boston, telling stories about the biodiversity crisis in their homeland.

The online catalog can be seeing here:

https://www.lilianafolta.com/albums/installations/curatorial-project

There is an urgency to this practice and I want to be part of a more environmentally conscious future by encouraging city parks, private gardeners and the next generations to practice sustainable gardening.

I am excited to be able to contribute and continue to spread the word about the importance of planting native plants for pollinators, no matter where you live. This is a global issue. Together we can help the natural world thrive.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Perhaps the most notable resilience is adaptation to new places and cultures.

Making a new beginning every time I move from a country/city, packing/unpacking, making a new home, can drain your energy and even your creativity. It takes a long time to get involved in an unknown place, to build connections, friendships and as an artist, unless you are well known in the art world, it is like starting over to be recognized in the artistic field.

The group of paintings here are an example of changes in my work. There are no figurative representations like in my previous creations.

This happened during the time I lived in Berlin. I believe it is because I had no connection with the culture, I didn’t speak the language and I knew nobody.

I felt emptiness and solitude in my studio as an artist, but pushing myself just making strokes of lines I found a way of a new language in my canvas, and continued to engage in a surreal landscape connected to what is happening with our Planet.

On the other hand, I have been enriched by these life experiences, learning to identify, accept and manage emotions in difficult times such as leaving the nest where I grew up, the country, my friends and my family.

I see my work evolving in unique ways as my travels and connections to different cultures lead me to new insights. Through these unique experiences, I am able to discover and explore a new world of ideas by implementing a variety of elements of my interest into my practice.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lilianafolta.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liliana.foltaart/
• Other: https://www.saatchiart.com/lilianafolta

Image Credits
Some images are courtesy of the artist and Joel Benjamin @joelbphoto