Marina Font —Mental Maps

The series Mental Maps is a continuation of Dark Continents, and both explore metaphorically the complexity of the human psyche and its inner threads in order to further investigate my relationship with the multiple intersecting factors that constitute the female identity, delving into its multiple aspects. The central axis of these very intuitive and visceral works is the approach to the female body perceived mainly through three planes: the biological, the psychological and the social, and the juxtapositions and connections among these themes. In this series, I depart from a black and white photograph of a female body and make of these neutral photographs a canvas for recreating, through the physical labor of sewing, metaphors of the mind's systematic representation of the world.

My hands intervene each work manually, and through this intimate, performatic ritual, the embodiment of the photograph becomes the common ground where the familiar and the foreign meet, as an individual attempt to blur the lines between the internal and external spaces of the body. the construction of these mental maps evokes diverse psychological states and emotions with meanings that are in constant flux, never fixed, just like our identities.

With this series, I aim to approach what lies beyond control and reason, exploring, through the act of drawing with thread, embroidery, fabric and appropriated crochet pieces onto the photographic surface, the intricate mysteries of the psyche. Through these works I intend to shed imaginary light on the female experience in order to build idealized and fantastical connections to the forces of the unconscious.

Anatomy is Destiny is the title of my first monograph, in collaboration with Dina Mitrani Gallery and Minor Matters Books. It presents a selection of more than 75 photo-based works from the Dark Continents and Mental Maps series respectively. The book’s title references Freud, in which he claimed that one’s gender determines one’s personality traits. By questioning his quotes, I aim to open the conversation about culture versus biology, nature versus nurture.

For more information or to purchase the book: minormattersbooks.com/collections/books/products/marina-font-anatomy-is-destiny

Marina Font, (Argentina 1970. Lives and works in Miami Beach, FL) Studied design, sculpture and photography at the Escuela of Artes Visuales M. Malharro, Mar del Plata, Argentina.; photography at the Speos Ecole de la Photographie in Paris; earned an MFA in Photography from Barry University, Miami, 2009. She had four solo shows at the Dina Mitrani Gallery, Miami, at the Catherine Couterier Gallery in Houston, TX, The Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA; The Consulate of Argentina in NY, The Deering Estate at Cutler, Miami and The Andy Gato Gallery, Barry University. Font is also part of two multidisciplinary collaborations: RPM Projects (with Rhonda Mitrani and Patricia Schall Gutierrez) and Instacorrespondences + 9TOPICS with artist Amalia Caputo.

She has exhibited in numerous group shows in galleries, cultural institutions and museums including The Boca Raton Museum of Art (with RPM Projects), The Appleton Museum; The Museum of Florida Art, The Nova South Eastern University; The Baker Museum, The Art Center/South florida. Her work is presented in public collections including The MDC Museum of Art+Design, The Boca Raton Museum, The LOWE Museum at The University of Miami, The Girl’s Club collection, Fototeca Latinoamericana de Fotografia (FoLA), Buenos Aires, Argentina.

For more information, please contact Marina Font at: studio@marinafont.com or visit: www.marinafont.com
Interview with Marina Font here