Through UF’s International Center, Lisa Iglesias, a multimedia artist and assistant professor at the School of Art + Art History, was awarded a fellowship that allowed her to live and work in Finland, Malta and the Dominican Republic.
Iglesias’ studio research incorporates disciplines of drawing, painting and video across a variety of materials and techniques. Her travels allowed her to explore historical and contemporary drawing practices as well as weaving and textile traditions in the surrounding areas.
Traveling and working around the globe allows her to bring back new material for her students, meet and collaborate with new artists, and showcase her work.
“I really value the kind of community it fosters,” she said. “Every time I go to a residency, I’m growing my community, and I’m meeting other artists. I really respond to that change in location.”
During her stay in Malta, an archipelago in the central Mediterranean, Iglesias collected audio and images from the surrounding villages and waterfronts in the area to create a new animation project that was displayed in her own solo exhibition on the island.
Iglesias also used her father’s roots in the Dominican Republic in her exhibition titled Leyendo con Fantasmas, which translates to “reading with ghosts” in English. She and another artist, Tomás Pichardo, gathered documents and artifacts from their families’ homes to create and inspire new work.
“I was able to incorporate materials, books and documents from my family’s home,” Iglesias said, “and that was especially poignant for me.”
