Catalina Swinburn

Catalina Swinburn was born in 1979 in Santiago, Chile. Her journey as an artist began with a BA in Fine Arts from the Catholic University of Chile.

Her work has been widely exhibited at prestigious institutions worldwide, including the Centro Cultural Matta in Buenos Aires, the Monnaie du Paris in France, and the MAC Museo de Arte Contemporaneo in Santiago de Chile.

Catalina Swinburn's Art Style

Catalina Swinburn's art communicates essential messages and universal themes such as sustainability, identity, gender equality, and globalization, emphasizing the interconnectedness of the Global South across time.

At the heart of Swinburn's practice lies a deep engagement with weaving and vintage documents, which she employs as vital tools for raising awareness, fostering connections among diverse communities, and highlighting female resilience. Swinburn seeks to preserve narratives related to sacred places, ancestral geography, and original memory. In doing so, she articulates a sense of urgency and a form of resistance. The artwork thus becomes animated by the artist's dual role as both creator and performer of the sculpture, serving as a metaphor for resistance, wherein woven narratives stand in for the historical silence of women.

Textiles serve as poignant expressions of women's engagement with cultural heritage and transformation, playing a pivotal role in the examination of gender, social identity, status, exchange, and modernization. Employing weaving as a metaphor for resistance, Swinburn's artistic approach invites us to explore our cultural roots and presents an alternative perspective on the role of art as a catalyst for awareness. By engaging with diverse forms of knowledge, her practice fosters a dialogue between tradition and innovation, continuity and transformation.