Amparo Pons Grau

She/Her/Hers

The research that precedes a project is often just as important to me as the physical creation of the  art piece itself. It references Christian and pagan imagery, wanting to re-examine the boundaries of  the divine and the taboo to explore the effects of organised religion on people with queer identities  like myself. My work aims to facilitate deeper, nurturing conversations in which people with  different backgrounds can approach identity-defining topics and find common ground. 

We often associate metal with permanence and invulnerability. Despite this unresponsive reputation, metal is surprisingly malleable and organic. I like working with hot rolled steel because the heat easily brings about a multitude of unpredictable textures; red, green and blue streaks emerge in waves that trail organically along its surface. The duality of the harsh sturdiness and the beautifully frail reactivity of the metal mirrors the duality of the experiences that inspire my sculptures: the pain brought by challenges encountered and the small comforts found to combat it. Metal allows me to leverage both the preexisting textures of the material and a wide variety of intervention techniques to create layered figures that, in their visual simplicity, contain multifaceted and emotionally profound stories.