Biography
María Ester (Mariela) Constant, born in La Plata in 1949, holds a five-year undergraduate degree in Visual Arts from the School of Fine Arts of the Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina(FBA/UNLP). She lives and works in La Plata.
In 2000 she was chosen to attend a course on photographic serigraph at the State University of New York at New Paltz, USA. She has also been part of discussion workshops with Elena Oliveras, Rimer Cardillo, Eduardo Médici, Sergio Bazán, Julio Sánchez, Fabiana Barreda and Tulio de Sagastizábal.
She has participated in international biennals, as well as national and municipal showcases. She has received several national and international honorable mentions, among which the following stand out:
- Second Photography Prize at the Present Art Festival Florence –Shanghai 2013 -04
- First Acquisition Prize “Daekyung E&C”, The 13th Seoul_Space International Print Biennial, Seúl, Corea (2004)
- Acquisition Prize, The 12th Seoul_Space International Print Biennial, Seúl, Corea
- Museum Award Prize, The Tokyo International Mini-print Triennial, Tama Art University Museum, Tokio, Japón (2002)
- Second Prize, Videominute Contest on Tepic of “Human Rights”, MBA/MAC, Bahía Blanca, Argentina (2010)
- Honorable Mention, Visual Arts Argentine Prize given by Fundación OSDE, Argentina (2006)
- Jury’s Mention, Visual Arts Nacional Salon, Buenos Aires (2005)
- First Engraving Prize, Gumam Pomma Museum, Province of Entre Rios, Argentina
Individual showcases: Rituals, ArtexArte Gallery, 2012-06; Priza, La Guanaca Azul Gallery, Buenos Aires (2010); Love Story, La Guanaca Azul Gallery, Buenos Aires; from the “Love stories” series, Víctor de Pol room, Natural Sciences Museum of La Plata (2009); “Crying”, Piso uno Gallery, La Plata (2008); Warmth, Santa Cruz Cultural Complex, Río Gallegos (2007); Warmth, ArtexArte Gallery, Buenos Aires (2006); On the way back, Aerolíneas Argentinas, Municipal Museum of Art, La Plata (2005); Two roads, in collaboration with Lorena Vázquez, National Engraving Museum, Buenos Aires (2003).
“I started collecting wool and natural moss, and with them I created a new thread… I knitted a blanket which provides me with Warmth.
Knitting connects me with all that’s meditative: knitting and staying in touch, feeling my own breath, being quiet but vitally alert.
My mother used to knit wonderful wefts of wool which later on turned into coats for us, the women of the house. And I loved that! I helped my mom to move the shuttle through all those needles which collect colorful threads of wool; it was a game; it meant being with her.
So now my work needs to express itself through textiles, collecting wool and moss, cutting it and turning it into vegetable weft. This is what comes closer, in a primitive sense, to how I feel.”
