The dunes of the Ecuadorian artist María Verónica León are exhibited in Sweden

The same scenario you used Denis Villeneuve to film some scenes of your movie Dune became an inspiration for the multidisciplinary artist María Verónica León Veintimilla, who found in the desert sand of Rub al Khali, an hour and a half from Abu Dhabi, a precious element to incorporate into your work. The Ecuadorian exhibits part of her collection Dunas at the art fair WopArt, that is given until November 21 in Lugano, Switzerland.

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León has lived in Dubai for eight years, but it was as a result of the death of his father that he visited the well-known desert. “This year is very special, and especially the year of the pandemic because I had the privilege of having reached a state of reflection, of philosophy that I consider to be ideal. This spirituality is born from a relationship with nothingness, through my last and greatest inspiration, which is the desert, the dunes.”, He tells in an interview with this newspaper.

“Upon discovering those dunes, a collection of 77 works on paper was born … this time I wanted to simplify the processes, and thus also adapt to a kind of intimacy that we were all experiencing”, Add.

This is how León created his collection with reddish sand and golden acrylic as a recurring color, in order to “reflect changes in light”. In some of his proposals he chooses to leave a white sky with the intention of that “much desired evocation”.

León indicates that during this time he disconnected from the external out of conviction. “I adopted this disconnection and used it as an instrument to maintain some of that harmony so as not to forget what we have experienced”, expresses.

He also began to record some things that fueled his creation, just as he took time to write the first chapters of his life as an artist. “As I love writing, I include the word in some of these dunes”, dice.

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His creative process was accompanied by electronic music, he says. “Based on these rhythms, I am creating the lines that I call supersonic because of the rhythm they have and because they connect with the rhythm of Dubai, which is a tremendously fast rhythm. This practice of supermobility is ideal for the reflection of that dislocation or these world times of extreme acceleration of anxiety ”, Explain.

“I take music at every stage of my life as a conductor of moods, mental states, spiritual states”, remarks.

His work starts from the collection of sand from the desert, also known as the Empty Quarter, and which remains more than three hours from his residence in Dubai. “I collect the sand, and in that heat it causes me to enter, like washing myself in that sand … strange sensations of connecting with that simplicity … it was not the land of Ecuador, where I was born, it was a distant land, but it was a land that gave me a feeling of belonging ”, expresses the Guayaquil artist.

The five paintings of Leon will be in the Saye Gallery along with the work of five Iranian artists, curated by Sharmin Dalvand. She mentions being happy to exhibit for the first time in Switzerland. “Work on paper in Europe has historically been highly valued and highly desired, since the Renaissance classics …”, he comments.

About the artist

In 2015 he represented Ecuador at the 56th Venice Biennale, with his show Water and Gold: Apocalyptic Black Mirrors. In 2016 the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome made her the Ecuador’s first contemporary woman artist in having a solo exhibition in a museum in Rome.

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He has also exhibited in the United Arab Emirates, in New York, at the Galliera Museum of Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Quito, in the Museum of Contemporary Art of Guayaquil, among others. (I)