Tola Navarro (1984) is a Chilean artist, with a degree in Architecture from the Universidad del Desarrollo in Santiago de Chile, and a degree in Art History from the same university. He studied painting with the artist Francisco Villalón, work analysis with Matías Novillo and also did a residency at Uberbau_house – Contemporary Art Research Residency – HEBEAS DATA V — Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2018.

He surprises with his work that is constantly challenging new forms, inspiring new structures, through innovative treatment of simple raw materials that he transforms with creativity.

The magic of his art is in his research. The search for expression through wood, paper, wire, cloth, ceramics… no matter what, he converts into a work of art whose origin intrigues, whose expression surprises, whose development inspires.

He evokes a spirit in his work that feels like a symbiosis between what the material itself represents and what he does with that material, how he shapes the structure of the material, exposing his essential ability to enhance it, never to hide it or transform it. He plays with the tools to work over wood imagining territories ready to be built. He joins pieces of wire creating architectural powered artworks. He sees through prisms colored horizons that throw on simple white paper, smooth or crumpled paper.

Tola is a byproduct of the technological age when kids unlocked life’s mysteries through the Internet. As a result of this prolonged screen time, he explores how the displacement of the light spectrum impacts color and repetition.

Anny Bello