Artist Statement
My artwork is a process of research into the construction of identity in the age of social media and its contemporary problematic. As a social media artist and user of digital platforms, I am interested in delving into the social and psychological shift in contemporary behavior. By using my body and life to stage experiments, I explore the social media phenomenon and its influence on behavior. My artistic practice exists in the liminal space between the physical and the digital, “reality” and fantasy. I use social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram as tools in the process of creation. I work with participants as co-creators who encounter, interact, interpret, and engage in my art projects. The encounter allows the artwork to take on new form and extend within the spectrum of meaning. My art projects invite viewers to develop a critical view of social media and how it affects our lives.
Laís Pontes was born in Fortaleza, Brazil. She is an interdisciplinary artist who currently lives and works in London. In 2011 she graduated from the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York, and in 2014 received a Masters of Fine Art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).
Pontes‘s artwork is a process of research into social media issues and concerns of our time. Using virtual platforms such as Facebook and Instagram as tools in the process of creation - in the same way as the camera and performance - she explores the impact of social media on identity construction and social perception. In her works, she invites viewers to experience, interact, and develop a critical view about social media and how it affects our lives.
Pontes has been exhibiting her work worldwide. Her works were on display at Data Rush, NOORDERLICHT Photofestival (Groningen, The Netherlands, 2015), Rencontres Internationales de La Photographie (Gaspé, Canada, 2015), Take Ten at the International Center of Photography (New York, 2015), FotoFest Biennial (Houston, 2014), APG Exhibition (Atlanta, 2013), and 6th Arte Laguna Prize in Italy (2012), among others. Her work has been included in well-known magazines and blogs in South Korea, Spain, Italy, USA, Brazil and Mexico. These publications include El País, The Creators Project, Lenscratch, Itsliquid and PDN Pulse.
Pontes has received numerous awards, including the London International Creative Competition Talent of the Year Award (2013); the PX3 Prix de la Photographie, (Paris, 2012), and the Filter Photo Juror’s Prize (Chicago, 2011).
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