{"id":16126,"date":"2021-06-12T17:49:36","date_gmt":"2021-06-12T17:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/?p=16126"},"modified":"2021-07-21T17:58:57","modified_gmt":"2021-07-21T17:58:57","slug":"alumnus-and-artist-orlando-estrada-explores-miamis-fate-in-newest-exhibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/2021\/06\/12\/alumnus-and-artist-orlando-estrada-explores-miamis-fate-in-newest-exhibition\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumnus and artist Orlando Estrada explores Miami\u2019s fate in newest exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2013By Tatiana Basanta for FIU News <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time, but many South Florida residents, who grow up hearing the words \u201cglobal warming\u201d and \u201csea-level rise\u201d about as often\u00a0as they hear a parent calling them to dinner, have adopted an almost\u00a0<\/span>blas\u00e9\u00a0<\/span><\/i>attitude about the whole thing.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One Miami-based artist, however, is giving the locals a first-hand view of what\u00a0Miami\u00a0will look like if we continue\u00a0down this path.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"1_estrada_web.jpg\"
Orlando Estrada,\u00a0The Infinite Vision in the Ethereal Rainbows Swarming Behind my Eyelids Reveals a Beacon, exhibition view, Bas Fisher Invitational and Bridge Initiative, Miami Beach, FL, USA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Alumnus Orlando Estrada \u201808 calls\u00a0on viewers to deal with the environmental issues surrounding South Florida today with his new solo exhibition \u201cThe Infinite Vision in the Ethereal Rainbows Swarming Behind my Eyelids Reveals a Beacon\u201d located in South Beach.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, before\u00a0moving to Miami at the age of 11,\u00a0Estrada is no stranger to living in cities deeply intertwined with the natural\u00a0world. Estrada says the experience gave him a strong understanding of\u00a0the concepts of transformation and the relationship between humans and the planet at a very\u00a0young age.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese two concepts are foundational to my artistic practice,\u201d he says. \u201cNaturally, I am intrigued\u00a0by the changing climate and what this means for the future of the planet.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His exhibition explores\u00a0how unconventional material can be transformed to create a\u00a0cyclical web of narrative across sculpture and painting. The sculptural centerpiece of the\u00a0exhibition, \u201cTiered Panorama,\u201d is a\u00a0para-fictional, architectural model of the\u00a0City of Miami.\u00a0Through combining both man-made and natural materials\u00a0–\u00a0the foundational crux of\u00a0the\u00a0sculptural practice\u00a0–\u00a0the work addresses the vulnerability of the city to rising sea levels and\u00a0analyzes the role of\u00a0petro-capitalism\u00a0in accelerating this natural process of change.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTiered Panorama\u201d was inspired\u00a0by\u00a0the\u00a0elaborate\u00a0collection of Christmas villages\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Casitas\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u2013 a Puerto Rican craft of\u00a0creating\u00a0miniature\u00a0facades of\u00a0traditional island homes \u2013 his grandmother and mother made and displayed in their homes throughout his childhood.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"9_estrada_web.jpg\"
Orlando Estrada,\u00a0Tiered Panorama, (detail) 2021, coconut fiber, expanding foam, glitter, artificial pearls, 3D printed PLA filament, seashells, stone, artificial foliage, cell phones, Swarovski crystal, bone, consumer waste, found objects, light string, LED light, motor, UV pigment, acrylic, adhesive, PVC and Wire Armature 60\u201d x 120\u201d x 120\u201d\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201c[The]\u00a0meticulous attention to detail within\u00a0these displays sparked an uncanny sense of wonder inside of me,\u201d Estrada adds. \u201cWhen presented with the opportunity to create an\u00a0exhibition about the city of Miami and the impact of the changing climate on her future, it was\u00a0clear to me that the preciousness of the miniature would be the perfect medium through which\u00a0to share my ideas.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In keeping the exhibition \u201cgreen,\u201d Estrada constructed the sculpture\u00a0from consumer packaging waste, which he collected over the course of the\u00a0pandemic. The work also includes materials that were donated by Materials for the Arts, an\u00a0organization for recycling art materials in New York City. Most of the natural components in the\u00a0works were also locally sourced.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Estrada, it was at FIU where he began believing that art can change the world and that he had to continue creating it, no matter what circumstances he faced.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want my work to fill people with a sense of such profound beauty that they cannot help but adopt even the smallest bit of climate-conscious action,\u201d he adds.\u00a0\u201cI want people to look at the beautiful\u00a0messes I create and in these works be able to see that this is the world we have burned via\u00a0unmanaged growth and unmitigated chaos and to then leave longing for something different.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Infinite Vision in the Ethereal Rainbows Swarming Behind my Eyelids Reveals a Beacon\u201d is on view at\u00a0644 Collins Ave and is open Thursday through Saturday 11 – 6 p.m., or by\u00a0<\/span>appointment<\/span><\/a>\u00a0during off-hours.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2013By Tatiana Basanta for FIU News Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time, but many South Florida residents, who grow up hearing the words \u201cglobal warming\u201d and \u201csea-level rise\u201d about as often\u00a0as they hear a parent calling them to dinner, have adopted an almost\u00a0blas\u00e9\u00a0attitude about the whole thing.\u00a0\u00a0 One Miami-based artist, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[369],"tags":[453,499,451],"class_list":["post-16126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-spotlight","tag-alumni","tag-art","tag-college-of-communication-architecture-the-arts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16126"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16126"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16130,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16126\/revisions\/16130"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}