Visual Artist
Carolina Echeverría is an acclaimed artist known for her thought-provoking work that delves into the complexities of the human experience and the transcendent nature of art.
With a background in Fine Arts from Concordia University and UQAM, she has been a prominent figure in the art world since 1987, earning recognition both nationally and internationally. She played a pioneering role in establishing Art Depot, Montreal's first gallery for immigrant artists.
Garments for survival
I created my Garments for Survival, transparent, yet metal made armors to induce a feeling of protection against my personal experience with immigration. My grandmother taught me to crochet, I chose galvanized wire to sculpt these garments which provided protection for so many aspects of my life as a newcomer. These sculptural dresses were exhibited throughout Canada, they represented Quebec in Paris 2000, they were showcased at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Chile and they were sold at several art shows in Europe, USA and Canada.
Little Dresses for the Heart
To make my dresses more affordable to the clients I developed a series of dresses for the heart. If your heart could wear a dress, what would it look like? These delightful sculptures allowed me to go deeper into my creative process.
Native Immigrant Dresses
Immigration has been at the core of my artistic practice. My artistic process brought me back to revising my roots when I realized I had come to Canada, but it was Quebec, and Quebec was actually native land. As an immigrant I saw more commonality with First nations than with white settlers due to our displacement, loss of culture and languages. To me, Canada is a developing relationship between Immigrants and First Nations. “We are all immigrants with different arrival dates.” The first Native-Immigrant event took place in the winter of 2013 when I reworked this colonial notion of forcing immigrants and First Nations to adhere to European norms into that of the re-rooted immigrant, the one who is mindful of this land, who wants to connect to it. The main activity in this event was the making of the NativeImmigrant dress, created with participants who brought an object and told their stories. I realized that regardless of all the good intentions, the current immigration process lacks the humanity to care for the wellbeing of immigrants as they age, their right to a fully integrated life and the right to die with peace in their hearts. During my ten years with Native Immigrant, nine dresses were created.
