Edison Peñafiel

Lives and works in Miami, FL, USA

Artist statement

Peñafiel's multimedia installations offer a critical perspective on the experiences of those who are often marginalized in the world's major conflicts. Through his work, Peñafiel explores the clash of ideologies and repetitive cycles of history that produce human catastrophes. His goal is to provoke thought and inspire action among his audience. Peñafiel's installations use sculpture, animation, video, and space to create unsettling reflections of the realities we participate in and witness every day. By highlighting the odd angles and intersections of the world, Peñafiel aims to break the desensitized lull that ongoing crises can create. He invites the viewer to engage with pressing issues of our time by weaving together the tactile and ephemeral in his work. Peñafiel's use of video projection introduces movement, rhythm, and montage to stationary, three-dimensional objects, while the objects provide weight and fixed form. This interplay invites the viewer to merge the tactile with the ephemeral, each informing and complicating the other in dialogue. By blurring the lines between physical space and projection, Peñafiel mirrors the way concepts interact with the real world. Peñafiel's work is deeply informed by visual references to German Expressionism and the surveillance state, which he uses to situate his work in a long-term discussion about the turning gears of modernity and the alienation it continues to produce. His installations convey a sense of anxiety and...

Artwork