Collaborations with the environment
This week we welcome Cecilia André, a Brazilian artist of Lebanese descent whose multifaceted career spans artmaking, education and curation. After earning an undergraduate degree in fine arts and education from the Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation, a college in São Paulo, she relocated to New York in 1991, continuing her studies at the New York Studio School, Pratt Institute and School of Visual Arts.
André’s artistic practice underwent significant evolution following a pivotal 2019 solo exhibition at the Plaxall Gallery, where she introduced works using fabric and vinyl transparencies to create immersive light and color experiences. This direction was further developed during a 2020-21 AnkhLave Arts Alliance Fellowship at the Queens Botanical Garden, where André was among six women of color awarded a Queens Council on the Arts grant for outdoor installations.
Earlier this year, André took part in the participatory performances “Separator: Unite US” at Westbeth Gallery, “Species Parade” on Governors Island and the Water Parade at the Queens Museum. She created a site-specific installation as an invited artist for the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Art and Design Gallery exhibition “Picturing Light.”
Of her work, André says: “What captivates me is the transformation of natural light into color shadow, between permanence and ephemerality. I’m driven to investigate how spectral colors can transform our spatial perception and create wonder in everyday environments. My curiosity centers on the interplay between natural phenomena — wind, light, seasonal changes — and handcrafted materials that interact with these forces.”
