Estel Fonseca
Estel Fonseca was born in 1987, she lives and works in Marseille.
Fascinated by the mysteries of humanity, its illnesses, and creations, as well as the mysteries of landscapes and their movements, Estel Fonseca is guided by a desire to embrace the lines of the present—of what is happening—allowing her projects to evolve through situations of friction: contaminations of ideas, lived experiences, therapeutic journeys, concepts from diverse fields of research, intuitions, and encounters along her path. Estel Fonseca refers to her visual translations as VOLUMES—a term used in earth sciences, physical chemistry, nuclear physics, acoustics, physiological medicine, fluid mechanics, sociology, computer science, geometry, and forestry. Her volumes create a formal connection between the body and the landscape, with illness for the former and cataclysm for the latter. Illness and cataclysm emerge as metaphors for what is difficult to contain, serving as alerts for what must change to adapt and begin anew. In both cases, the destructive principle is inseparable from creation—two principles that confront and repel each other. Estel Fonseca starts from the premise that every illness—as a change in biological behavior activating new genes—arises when a living being needs it to adapt to a repeated situation or conflict.
FACING [faire face] an aesthetic composition project seeking dynamic balance, or FACING [faire face] an illness that takes shape in the opaque thickness of tissues and organs, concealed within masses and folds. DEALING WITH [faire avec] genetics, social conditions, society, imposed temporality, and the place one accepts to occupy within an imposed order.
From her experiences, Estel Fonseca has learned to recognize what imposes itself. Since 2016, she has been caring for her mental, emotional, and physical self. Her interests in the margins, bodies, landscapes, and usages have taken shape through exhibitions such as “Le tremblement est invisible” at HubHug, 40mcube, Rennes (2016); “Sauvetage vertical” at Straat Gallery, Marseille (2017); and “Automne Hiver Intersaison” at Galerie du Tableau, Marseille (2019). Estel Fonseca participated in a residency program in Glasgow from May to August 2018 as part of an exchange between Triangle France and Glasgow Sculpture Studios.
