Isabela Castelan is originally from Brazil but lives and works in London, where she has her studio. She has a BA (Hons) in painting, from Chelsea College of Arts and Design, followed by an MFA (painting) at the Slade School of Art. Her work encompasses, painting, performance tools and digital photography. She has exhibited in UK, Brazil, Germany and recently in South Korea, with works held in public and private collections.
Sometimes I work with media such as performance and digital photography. These works are records of small improvised performances composed between myself and my surroundings and documented intimately by myself. Some images acquire a symbolic meaning, to do with my personal history. In Brazil we have a strong spiritualist tradition that comes out of our mixed cultural background and heritage, traditional cultures, African heritage. This informs the work that I make and my approach to mythical stories. My subject matter explores the way in which my own identity becomes mixed with the mythical narratives and iconic figures of my past. The collective memories and spiritual aspect of my Brazilian heritage are important here
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