In FOYER-LA’s current project Proliferation, Ana Maria Devis works within the entanglement of decay and growth. A Bogotá-based artist, Devis utilizes weaving and intricate drawing to generate imaginary realms inspired by natural patterns. Devis sees, and I would even suggest feels, potentiality in all things- the debris of wood, used makeup wipes, the spaces between words and language, fallen hair, shed skins, a conversation. Proliferation functions as an ecosystem: one piece supports and permeates from the next, a reflection of the symbiotic phenomena Devis studies in nature and her intimate relationships.

Through a composure of obsessive repetitive gestures, Devis generates layered surfaces and abstract narratives that simultaneously act as windows (into) places she has explored. The seashore adjacent to the Sierra Nevada in Colombia where a snowy peak is in proximity to the Caribbean coast and the sacred land for the Arhuaco, Wiwa, and Kogi peoples- a lush geological region where Devis has spent time and collected organic material. She transforms wooden remains into hand tools to make her initial ink marks. By engaging in a physical repetition of rubbing and imprinting, Devis sets the foundation in her Guachaca drawing for highly detailed ink drawings of biomorphic shapes, erotic forms, and unknowable landscapes to emerge.

In Relaciones Simbióticas, Devis fabricates uncanny creature-like sculptures from repurposed natural and synthetic materials. These seemingly alive forms in the installation become appendages to the collected tree branches. The codependency between structure and form infers a mirage; what is growing out of and what is supporting the sheath of. In addition, Devis presents as taxonomic portraits photographic representations of each of these biomorphic forms. Devis says, “The act of bringing together, attaching, uniting, altering, and transforming is a constant in my work.” Devis weaves an inter-section of the known and the discovered while seeking. 

Artist: Ana Maria Devis