Matiz~Nuance' s Artist Statement

Artist Statement

This proposal is born out of the situation of conflict that is inflicting our world, and the polarizing attitudes that promote the absence of dialog between people. We also come from the Colombian context and the difficult situation of poverty and exclusion that many Latin American peoples are undergoing, and are echoed in the life of people of Colombian and Latin American background who live in Toronto.

Matiz nuance movement is founded on the construction of symbolization processes that allow for the development of critical thought, the recognition of differences and the de-polarization of Latin American culture. We rely on the transformative power of art and artists as a dynamic element of social change. This change is enacted through the relationship of the spectator and the work of art, where the viewer, as an active subject engages in processes of transformation. We value this engagement as integral to the artistic expression, and that is why we go beyond the plain artistic show to generate spaces of expression and conversation (talking circles), reflection and mutual growing.

Through the conceptualization of the arts that we outlined above, we strive to provide nuances, to mix and to integrate, as strategies for the construction of community and to provide alternatives to rethink the political, social and axiological realms. Therefore, in our Matiz-Nuance MultiArts Project, our work group is composed of people from the arts, anthropology and psychology. Based fundamentally in the discourses of the Other in relation to subjectivity and culture, we can reflect on both the change of values and processes of inclusion. We also work with multiplicity of arts like dance, video art and music, which can generate exchanges amongst them to explore new significances.

Finally, the art presentations, as part of our relational emphasis, will integrate conversations expressing the diversity of ethics, aesthetics and human dimensions, as "a set of artistic practices which take as their theoretical and practical point of departure the whole of human relations and their social context, rather than an independent and private space." (Nicolas Bourriaud)