Analog Avatars

BACKGROUND: Pintos-Lopez's Analog Avatars encompasses 40 small-scale figures created by hand from salvaged fragments and found materials. The project was exhibited 4 times at contemporary art galleries in Melbourne, Sydney and New York. CONTRIBUTION: Analog Avatars is an investigation into crafting free standing, mixed media, small scale sculptures through working with other people's memories and materials. It researched the reworking of treasured, found and donated materials into new forms that spoke of their past, but also began to form future narratives. This furthered ideas of how sculpture can be used to form associative connections between both the objects and the audience, and tested the idea of sculpture as a transactional object, capable of forming different connections and meanings in relation to the audience. The project is contextualised within the field of assemblage and collage where disparate materials are reformulated to produce new narratives. It draws from Pintos-Lopez's research practice within the field of experiential sculpture and her interest in shifting relations between both audience and producer. SIGNIFICANCE: The significance of the project is evidenced through its inclusion in 4 local and international exhibitions. For the 2013 exhibitions at Red Gallery and Gaffa Gallery, the project was selected through a gallery proposal system and received external review through the Gallery boards. The 2015 exhibition at Red Gallery was by invitation from curator/artist Katie Langmore. In addition, the work was also exhibited as part of a self-initiated group show at Mad Dooley Gallery in New York.