Taking it to the limit: In the studio with Luciana Lamothe by Interview and translation by Vanessa Bell

Taking it to the limit: In the studio with Luciana Lamothe

Interview and translation by Vanessa Bell
The Buenos Aires–based artist talks about her demanding process, the status of women artists in Argentina, and her latest piece for Art Basel Cities Week

Luciana Lamothe knows she’s onto something when the piece she’s working on starts to get a little alarming – too tall, too vast, too tenuous. Whether joining iron pipes with simple clamps or lashing panels together with zip ties, in sculptures and installations that are robust yet malleable, the Argentine artist tests the limits of her materials, as well as the boundaries between interiors and exteriors, built environments and psychological ones. ‘I like to play with how far I can push the limits of a particular material, and with resistance,’ says the artist. ‘This extends to the spectators and those who interact with my work as well.’ Lamothe will unveil Starting Zone (Zona de inicio), 2018 – her first public commission – as part of ‘Hopscotch (Rayuela)’, curated by Cecilia Alemani for Art Basel Cities Week in Buenos Aires, September 6–12. The artist recently welcomed Art Basel into her studio in Munro, outside Buenos Aires, for a discussion about how her work is received locally and the heightened sensation she hopes to provoke with her project for Art Basel Cities.

Luciana Lamothe at work in her Munro studio. Photo by Mani Gatto.
Luciana Lamothe at work in her Munro studio. Photo by Mani Gatto.
Ensayos de Abertura, 2018, made of oxidized metal tubes and scaffolding ties, which Lamothe presented at Galería Ruth Benzacar earlier this year. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Ensayos de Abertura, 2018, made of oxidized metal tubes and scaffolding ties, which Lamothe presented at Galería Ruth Benzacar earlier this year. Photo courtesy of the artist.
The artist, who often works with construction materials, examines metal components in her studio. Photos by Mani Gatto.
The artist, who often works with construction materials, examines metal components in her studio. Photos by Mani Gatto.
Metasbilad, 2015, phenolic panels, metal tubes, and scaffolding clamps, installation view in 'My Buenos Aires, La Maison Rouge' at the Fondation Antoine de Galbert, Paris. Courtesy of the artist.
Metasbilad, 2015, phenolic panels, metal tubes, and scaffolding clamps, installation view in 'My Buenos Aires, La Maison Rouge' at the Fondation Antoine de Galbert, Paris. Courtesy of the artist.