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Marta Corada
Sculptures
MeiMei
The nature of MeiMei's work blurs the boundaries between beauty and grotesque, good and evil.
Monstrosity in arts has always allowed artists to communicate feelings and ideas freely and there is an aspect of this in MeiMei's sculptures. She particularly combines the kind and dark aspects that are intrinsic to human nature. Her interest in myths and bizarre characters from different cultures and traditions, collecting dolls and rare objects and the representation of creatures and monsters in the history of art has a meaningful influence in her work. The pieces are made of needle felted wool, vintage doll parts and modeled clay, which generate contrast between the found object that comes with its own history and character with a soft and sculptural undefined body, resulting in these whimsical and bizarre creatures. Artists like Dorothea Tanning, Rene Fini or Leonora Carrington, but also Bruegel the Elder, or Medieval Bestiaries, symbolism fantasy and surrealists, Japanese ghosts, and mythology are among others that may influence her art.
Marta is the first artists I have met for my gallery. Her magic sculpture "Tártaro" was the beginning of our intensive gallery-artist relationship. (I. Woldt)
Tártaros Journay, 2018
Yōkai - spirits, apparitions, etc in Japanese culture. Different cultures folklore related to supernatural beings. Jungian theories especially the "Shadow" representing the unknown dark side of the personality and his concept of Archetypes and Archetype images, are among those artistic directions that are of interest.
Inspirations are also magic realism related authors such as South American magic realist writers, theatre of the absurd play-writes Eugene Lonesco, the white goddess of Robert Graves, Herman Hesse and Lewis Carroll, stories in mythology or literature that includes fantasy, and terror, representation of the unconscious in arts, simultaneous representation of facts in paintings or unconventional ways of building the narrative in a piece of work.
MeiMei works with soft materials, mainly with felt, this material makes the pieces not just visually attractive but also extremely tactile. The sculptures look delicate and light which makes a perfect contrast with the ceramic elements added to them.
Photography
Marta Corada
Winter Tale, 2018
Some of Marta's photographic works reflect the lack of communication we experience in public spaces while suggesting stories behind each individual. The characters simply reflect what we can see of their ordinary lives, they have things in common with the people around them and share the same space doing similar activities, although we see them somehow isolated and unaware of each other, their surroundings and the actual photographer. The intention is not to look for extraordinary places but to photograph the mundane and perhaps emphasize moments, gestures, looks, and movements that express feelings we don't normally want people to see, pass unnoticed or are easily forgotten.
Marta works with a single exposure and also digital photomontage in some of her photographs. She likes to blur the boundaries between storytelling and real facts trough digital manipulation. Always using images that occurred in real situations, without the use of directed or staged photography. Marta's work requires exploration, observation, and patience in order to get the images she needs.
Marta's photographs are created from real scenes normally photographed on the streets. They have been later manipulated and set on the border between the documentary and narrative fiction. The work explores the interaction and alienation within different groups of people in the city but also the beauty of unexpected facts. The images were taken in different countries and cities, always exploring similar concepts, depicting the way people perform and interact with each other in different environments, cultures, and communities. They have been created and composed from multiple images intentionally selected by and meticulously combined together in order to create unsettling and powerful images that never existed, but evoke the memories and perception she had while and after photographing those scenarios.
About the Artist
Born 1. March 1984 in Logroño, La Rioja, Spain, living and working in London
Marta Corada is a visual artist working with photography and soft sculpture mainly. She studied Fine Art & Photography at the Universities of Salamanca & Barcelona and has had numerous international exhibitions, including Pantocrator Gallery in Shanghai, James Freeman Gallery in London and Somerset House for The National Open Art Competition in London and Mothership Gallery in Philadelphia.
Her most recent Photography show is Un cierto panorama (A certain Panorama), where she exhibited along with some of the most relevant emerging photographers in Spain in Sala Canal Isabel II and Centro Cultural De España en Lima. She is currently working in her next sculpture project "Kai" and also parallel on commissions for different galleries like Dynamite in Brighton. As a sculptor, she appears as MeiMei.
In 2014 Marta was awarded the Ward Thomas Photography Award by NOA, and her work was selected to take part in the International Photography festival Paraty em foco, Brazil. Marta has been on the last edition of The Other Art Fair 2015.
Her work has been included in the recent project, exhibition and book "Un cierto panorama" about contemporary photography in Spain and has been included in the New Talents Book 2018 by The Independent Photographer. She also explores local social issues through photography, working with communities in different boroughs of London.
Floating Beings, Drawing
Exhibitions (selection since 2015)
2019 UN CIERTO PANORAMA New Spanish Photography Talents exhibition, Centro Cultural De España en Lima. 20 July-30th Sep. Natalio Sánchez 181, Santa Beatriz. Lima, Perú.
/2018 EL PODER DE LA PRESENCIA: First Group Exhibition of the proyect Mujeres Mirando Mujeres, Curator Mila Abadía and Adriana Pazos. Est Art Space, Madrid.
/2017 THE INDEPENDENT PHOTOGRAPHER Finalist for the Open call PEOPLE, Image selected for the New Talents book 2018 /UN CIERTO PANORAMA New Spanish Photography Talents exhibition, Sala Canal Isabel II, Madrid, Curator Jesús Micó /BLANK WALL GALLERY Street photography exhibition, Group show. Athens.
/2016 FLU EXHIBITION Old Truman Brewery /CREATIVE DEBUTS‐FIRST THURSDAYS "Twenty" Photomontage and collage exhibition as part of First Thursdays Whitechapel tour /BRITISH SPANISH SOCIETY Centenary: Invited artist to exhibit at the BSS Centenary in London.
/2015 THE OTHER ART FAIR 2015 Art fair for Independent artists in London. Old Truman Brewery /LIFE FRAMER group exhibition by Life Framer, including their featured photographers of 2015. Oberkampf Gallery, Paris /LIFE BETWEEN BUILDINGS, Group Exhibition Hosted by Spinach for their art program. Curator Connie Gallagher. London /THE SILK: Group Exhibition at James Freeman Gallery. London. Curator: James Freeman /CONTEMPORARY RITUALS, Solo exhibition for FESTIVAL EME art festival, a selection of photographs from Post Memories project taken in Shanghai, UK and Spain. BretónGallery, Santander, Spain. Curator Mónica Álvarez Careaga /POP LIVING Group show. Schwartz Gallery, London. Curator: Ismail Erbil /COMMENTING THE WORLD (comentando el mundo) Contemporary Photography group show for the cultural festival Actual. Casa de La Imagen Gallery, Logroño (La Rioja) Spain. Curator: Jesús Rocandio.