susanalf: Saturday 4th May: Meet the Artist Debut.

©Susanalf, 2013. Debut Contemporary, London.

Today’s ‘Meet the artist’ event, with artist Susana Lopez Fernandez, explored the connection between cultures that have risen in New York from the many different immigrants that live there. Using the medium of photography, Susana collaged her images and added a graphic twist with a stark red line winding through them. Although the different photographs, taken from culturally dense areas, are placed closely together, the stark red line that cuts across the different communities reminds us of the simultaneous closeness and separation. The artist also experimented with the use of sound, allowing the public to hear recognizable snippets of the different culture’s music. Played back-to-back, the music created a vivid picture of New York, as if you were walking through the streets yourself.

Coincidentally, the event occurred on the bank holiday weekend, meaning that many tourists came into the gallery, creating another layer of cultural collision. Susana invited the public to get involved with her art work by cutting and joining the photographs of different cultures around New York together in collages, described by her as ‘jigsaws’. Allowing people in London to get involved in the creative process meant that not only are these images to do with the cultures that Susanna has photographed in New York but they become intermingled with the culture and people of London as well, creating links across seas. Overall, the day was a fascinating look at the jigsaw of cultures that co-exist in New York - even the weather on the day seemed to sense the cultural diversity with both rain and sunshine making an appearance. Find out more about artist, Susana Lopez Fernandez on her website www.susanalf.es and her Twitter www.twitter.com/caracolll.

Text by Tabby Steinberg.