Sustainable Art Practices: From Philadelphia to Madrid

Cecilia Paredes is a Peruvian photographer and performance artist residing in Philadelphia. Her primary themes include the power of nature, femininity, and migration. She frequently utilizes natural elements, often recycled waste materials and primarily organic ones, in her installations. Naturally she is a friend and customer to The Resource Exchange and the same themes of sustainability have been incorporated into Paredes’ studio space. Read more on our blog from March 2020.

“Dear friends, as always it was wonderful to visit your store today. Please find here some photos of my projects with material l have bought from RE. I bought four panels of black Ikea curtains.”

“These are two l sewn in order to work on top of them a piece called Orpheo, about the hard times during the covid pandemic. Measure 240 x 270 cms. Here is the advance that involved sewing hand dyed silk posing as ‘stories’. And here below is the work already finished.”

“Using this same ‘tapestry’ l did a performance in an abandoned industrial factory, image here below. These two pieces are now in Madrid for my next exhibition at Blanca Berlin Gallery. With the other two black curtains or panels l did another piece measuring 400 x 420 cms.

In this case, the ‘tapestry’ is a map, narrating again, stories related to the pandemic times and the black curtains were cut into pieces. The same work on progress below.” -Cecilia Paredes

A big thank you to Cecilia for sharing her incredible work inspired by social and environmental concerns. Since 2007, The Resource Exchange has featured the work of 70+ local artists incorporating reclaimed materials + sustainable practices into their art practices. We’re excited to resume our arts + environmental programming in 2021.

Are you an artist who works with reclaimed materials? Contact info@theresourceexchange.org and ask about our Featured Artist Program to get involved!