Echeverría’s practice focuses on site-specific installations that respond to their environment. Her residency at Awasi Iguazu pushed this approach to new extremes as she grappled with the sheer vitality and complexity of the rainforest ecosystem.
Living Systems
Rather than bringing materials to the forest, Echeverría chose to work exclusively with what she found there – fallen branches, seed pods, leaves in various stages of decay, and the natural processes of growth and decomposition.
Her installations were designed to evolve over time, incorporating living elements that would continue to grow and change after she left. One piece involved training vines to grow through a delicate framework of branches, creating a sculpture that would eventually be consumed by the very life it framed.
Ephemeral Monuments
“I’m interested in art that doesn’t try to be permanent,” Echeverría explains. “In the rainforest, I saw how quickly things are reclaimed, recycled, transformed. My work here is about participating in these cycles rather than interrupting them.”
“Each morning I would return to my installations to find them changed – inhabited by insects, decorated with dew, partially dismantled by the wind. The forest was my collaborator.” – Florencia Echeverría
Documentation became a crucial part of her practice, as she photographed her installations at different times of day and in various weather conditions. These images capture not just the physical forms but the life that moved through and around them.
Echeverría’s approach to the residency embodies the philosophy of the Awasi Artist Immersion programme – creating work that deepens our connection to place while respecting the delicate balance of the ecosystems that inspire us.
