Berakha-page

Jazmín Berakha (Buenos Aires, 1980)

“In my work I use different material experiences, in a dynamic that oscillates between large textile works, smaller drawings and objects. The representation of the body – whole, fragmented, alone or collective - is the axis from which a series of relationships emerge: posture as a discourse in tension with the intimate gesture; the transformations and deformations of the body; the notion of a body traversed by culture; the power of bodily language and the structures of desire that emerge in past and present contexts”.

Jazmin studied visual arts, art history, graphic and fashion design, but the first break in her development as an artist came with her encounter with needlepoint. Although she did not expect much of it at first, it soon became a means of experimentation in her work, concerning texture and volume, pattern and rhythm. Embroidery is a traditional craft, a medium historically associated with women and their private space. But Berakha has chosen to use it in the context of contemporary artworks, as an entry to investigate modern images. Her investigation and research into textiles, prints and patterns, contains ideas of re-thinking a system of artistic hierarchy, balancing her work between abstract images and figurative representations.

Some of these images have carried on to her latter work in drawing and painting. In these, the female body is sometimes delicately outlined in black, either whole or in fragments. Weightless, they float against a neutral background, and interact with several recognizable objects such as high heel shoes, cigarettes, palm trees, and ancient artifacts. Jazmin´s creative use of material and endearing imagery has often transferred to other disciplines, in multiple collaborations with musicians, costume designers and clothing brands.