LAZO ART&SCIENCE WORKS

 

LAZO. LAZO- “lace” in Spanish - is a metaphorical expression regarding interlacing, and interlacing, precisely, is the basis of human nature and non-human nature. LAZO sustainably interlaces Laila (LA) and Zulema (ZO) in a unity of arts and sciences, of sciences and art. A delving into the foldings of each of these areas, blending them together into a holistic grid that is no longer arts, that is no longer sciences, but is both and each of them at the same time. Laces are not knots. Laces are resilient when they are weaved into a shape that serves greater purpose, but laces might also be vulnerable and subject to metamorphosis or to the becoming of new laces. Laces have two sides and that makes them castable. LAZO is the present, past, and future. LAZO is attention; a lace that takes shape at this moment and with desires and ambitions to embody and communicate the interdependencies, intradependencies, and ecodependencies that sustain life. 

Nature. All-envolving, all-involving, nature is essential for LAZO. Nature, as that which surrounds, traverses, embodies, and interacts with us. Hence, we are nature and nature is within us. Unique relationships in a magnificent biodiverse and ideo-diverse web of life. Equilibriums, vulnerabilities, and resilience within these relationships, where human life is not regarded through a dissociating dualistic nature-human logic, but on the contrary, through symbiotic and sympoietic reasonings. Now, in times of ecosystemic destruction and social fragmentation - where reductionist anthropocentric worldviews pose threats to the value of nature and of caring -  we believe it is especially important to put life and nature in the center of priorities. Hence, nature guides LAZO in all its splendor, in all its beauty.  

Transcalarity. Transcalarity is a concept that guides Laila and Zulema’s project. Transcalarity understood as an all-envolving idea that relates to different aspects of that which we call life. Transcalarity is the understanding that scales - physical, ecosystemic, ideo-logical, biological… - form a continuum. They interplay and overplay. I.e., they co-constitute each other, traverse each other; shaking that which is preconceived as an isolated scale. Scales are reflexive and relational in nature. 

Overall, LAZO explores these relationships, from this transcalar understanding, from this transdisciplinary framework, and through the communication that science-arts provides. Considering, at the same time, that our own subjectivities transcalarly interact with these objects of study. Our realities shape our art and science. And new experiences re-shape our realities. Art and science are not born in a vacuum. And for us, the diversity of cosmovisions is magnificent. 

Theory is always for someone and for some purpose" Robert Cox

LAZO IS LAILA VIVAS & ZULEMA GALEANO

LAILA VIVAS

Ph.D. student from Barcelona, Spain, with great passion and curiosity towards understanding and enhancing holistic and ecosocial cosmovisions on a daily basis. From a transdisciplinary-horizon standpoint, Laila focuses her Ph.D. Thesis on environmental (in)justice, delving into the interrelated dependencies of life (interdependencies, intradependencies, ecodependencies...). Environmental (in)justice is, thus, observed through transcalar and critical ecofeminist orientations, while drawing observations that entail holism and ecosocial ideas. She believes critical thinking and the practice of doubt are necessary to promote research attempts which create unfoldings of world perspectives and sustain regenerative ideas. Science acts politically and politics (con)forms science. Moreover, she understands creativity as an extension of attention and of the merging of different ideas. I.e., the value of heterogeneity and diversity. Meanwhile, she regularly participates in grassroots activism and has undertaken different professional and academic experiences, which form part of her world-system comprehension. She also embodies practices of caring of herself and those around her, as life is relationships and precisely, acts of caring. Overall, Laila attempts to promote coherence between thought, feeling, and praxis.

 

ZULEMA GALEANO

As a visual artist, I persistently push myself to take risks, while striving to create an environment where observers feel encouraged and identified. While my work often begins with a sketch, it is the natural scene in front of me that ultimately shapes the direction and intention of the piece. The exploration of natural aesthetics within the confines of the classical artist vocabulary is one that has always intrigued me and is a relationship that I explore more with each work I create. I am fascinated by the connections nature and art makes and my work often wrestles with the dichotomy between the individual and the inner person inside ourselves. Emphasizing aesthetics, vulnerability, and authenticity, I strive to connect observers to the collaborative art that we can create together. Art has the ability to connect us to the deepest parts of our humanity by helping to tap us into the passionate and uninhibited aspects of being alive. My goal as a visual artist is to create meaningful and gratifying pieces for an observer alike, and I am not afraid to question our role as beings that are part of a larger being as a holobiont from other scientific and sociological perspectives.I aspire to continually push myself to explore new realms of my creativity while remaining true to myself and who I am as an artist.