On Identity

Karen Navarro

Karen Navarro‘s multifaceted works of immigrant diasporas is coming to Houston Latino Film Festival. Join us on Wednesday, March 15 for the opening and reception of “On Identity”. Gallery doors open at 5:30 PM at MATCH (3400 Main St.) and artist, Karen Navarro will give her opening remarks at 7:30 PM. Enjoy complimentary refreshments and art before the Opening Night film, CARAJITA (8:00 PM – Box 4). The exhibition will remain open to the public throughout the festival until Sunday, March 19.

About the Artist

Karen Navarro is an Argentinian-born multidisciplinary artist currently living and working in Houston. Navarro works on a diverse array of mediums that include photography, collage, the use of text and sculpture. Her image-based work and multimedia practice investigate the intersections of identity, representation, race, and belonging in reference to her migrant experience, her Indigenous identity and the history of colonization and its influence. Her constructed portraits are known for pushing the boundaries of traditional photography and the use of color. Navarro has won numerous awards and grants for her mixed-media photography, among them the Artadia Fellowship, the Top Ten Lensculture Critics’ Choice Award, and the HCP Beth Block Honoraria, and has been shortlisted for several more, including the Photo London Emerging Photographer of the Year Award and The Royal Photographic Society, IPE 163. Her work has been exhibited in the US and abroad. Selected shows include Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH), USA; Galerija Upuluh, Zagreb, Croatia; Holocaust Museum Houston, USA; Artpace, San Antonio, USA; Melkweg Expo, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Houston Center for Photography, Houston, USA; and Museo de la Reconquista, Tigre, Argentina. Navarro’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including ARTnews, The Guardian, Observer, Rolling Stone Italia, and Photo Vogue Festival Italia.

Artist Statement

My work is informed by my experience of being an immigrant and a descendant of Indigenous Peoples from South America. Through unconventional portraiture, collage, the use of text and sculpture, my multimedia practice investigates the intersections of race, representation and belonging, considering the impact of migration and colonization on the formation of identity. Primarily using digital photography as a foundation to transform traditional prints into three-dimensional visual objects by cutting and incorporating tactile elements such as wood, paint, and resin. The labor-intensive techniques I apply to create these sculptural objects not only allow for a physical deconstruction of my images but also become a form of meditation that reflects my efforts in trying to reconstruct and make sense of my own identity.