Maria-Fernanda Cardoso
Maria-Fernanda Cardoso
Maria-Fernanda Cardoso is a contemporary artist based in Sydney. She finds the lockdown routine similar to her usual routine, but she is glad to spend more quality time with her family. The journal is a vivid representation of her bursting ideas and meticulous calculation towards project installation. Maria used this journal as a worksheet, scribbling down technical details for her new projects.
We asked Maria three questions about her experience of isolation, completing this journal and her hope for the future. These are her responses:
Describe the experience of the period of isolation for you.
It was business as usual, in the sense that I am always alone in my home/studio, but in a way better because my family were working from home, so I had company which I enjoyed very much.
What does your book represent and how did you approach the challenge?
It focused me to use it for only one project, instead of a mixture of projects and to do lists. I will continue this practice of having one small book per project, it is very concise, and I can find my sketches and notes much easier. It is a better document for project development than my usual sketchbooks and notebooks.
What do you hope will change in Australia as a result of the pandemic?
Working from home, riding bicycles, enjoying and getting to know Australia instead of other countries, universal income for everyone in Australia and in the world, improved health systems and a new way of living with more respect for nature.
María-Fernanda Cardoso is a Colombian Australian artist, sculptor and illustrator. Her contemporary art references many types of ready-made material, including plastic, trash, plants, dried and living animals, bones and styrofoam. One of her most famous art installations was a flea circus that featured live cat fleas. Her works have been featured in several museums internationally in Europe, the Americas, and Australia, and have won several awards. She resides in Sydney.
View Maria-Fernanda Cardoso's journal here:
Image: Maria-Fernanda Cardoso, Design/ Isolate Journal (detail), 2020