My research poses a critical examination of the representation of nature and nonhuman animals in our contemporary western world. I work primarily with drawing, film/video, installation, experimental writing and multidisciplinary research-based projects to bring attention to the ways nonhuman beings are depicted in visual culture and the complex spectrum of relationships we establish with them. Through an analysis of the historical origins of dominant modes of capture and othering of the animal, I locate and question inherited narratives of instrumentalisation, consumption, objectification and dominion operating in the representation of other-than-human worlds. By doing this, I expose the material impact that forms of imaging and looking have on nonhuman lives but also, how they can be thought otherwise to cultivate other possibilities for seeing, knowing and addressing animals. My practice offers a space for reframing the ways we perceive and talk about them to open the door to alternative imaginaries that challenge human-centered perspectives. For this, I work with non-anthropocentric storytelling strategies to foster a space to reimagine new lines of sight, modes of relation and iconographies of empathy with nonhuman domains in times of existential and ecological crisis.
I hold a BFA from Pontificia Universidad Católica in Santiago, Chile and an MFA from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, United States. She has exhibited and screened work in Chile, United States, Ecuador, Peru, Switzerland, Korea, United Kingdom, and have participated in diverse international residency programs such as Cow House Studios, Ireland (2017); Northwestern Oklahoma State University, United States / Molten Capital, Chile, (2018); Bibliothek Andreas Züst, Switzerland (2018); Pimoa Cthulhu, First Tentacular Writing Residency at the Institute of Postnatural Studies, Madrid (2020); St. Elmo Fellow at UT Austin and Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (2022 - 2023); Animalia by Language and Creation Center of the University of the Americas, Chile (2022 - 2024) and SVA Bio Art Lab, NY (2024). Selected group shows include: We Live Like Trees Inside the Footsteps of Our Ancestors in Blenheim Walk Gallery, Leeds Arts University and Quasi: Experimental Writing Systems at Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography, ArtCenter, US.
Marianne Hoffmeister Castro (she / her / ki / kin ). Currently works as Assistant Professor of Studio Foundations and Visual Studies at the Visual and Media Arts Department in Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, MI. Marianne works between Chile and the US.