Monica Camin is an argentine artist, daughter of Jewish-German parents who found refuge in Argentina. She lived in Israel for 10 years and currently lives in the United States. Her artistic career began as a child, assisting her father with his copper repoussé. Later, she received formal training in Buenos Aires and New York. Camin dedicates herself to explore the deepest closeness between the self structure and the universalities of human beings, the emotional energy that leads the course of things, even if its implicit or explicit, the becoming of things.

Perpetually Settling Dust (El Rezo) is an examination of the residual effects of a cultural trauma reflected by a mixed-media transition piece that shifts in the approach and process of painter/sculptor Monica S. Camin’s practice.

Through exploration of her roots, her own individual existence and the effects of a life lived, Camin uses her work to ask questions and find answers through her narrative creations. The project that she is developing in ‘ace is also a work in collaboration with the Cuban photojournalist Kaloian Santos Cabrera.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Like most inquiries about history, identity and accountability, one response disrupts another. And much like the aftermath of conflict and the unknown consequences of our own actions, we are left with perpetually settling dust.  Art exposes the fact of a multiplicity of histories, driven especially from an emotional and psychological perspective, which is what I respond to most.

In my case, there have been two historic events of state terrorism that have transpired in places that I consider my deepest roots. I belong to the second generation of survivors of World War II. For over ten years my work focused on how this affected me personally. I am also part of a generation in Argentina that suffered state terrorism, although by the time El Proceso occurred, I had already emigrated. From roughly 1974–1983 30,000 people were disappeared. It is estimated that 500 children were stolen, adopted and deprived of their true identity. These children are now adults.

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We are grateful to the embroidery encounters participants: Niza Ballestero, María Noel Caridad, Cristina Duro, Elinor Peiretti,  Silvia Guigón, Elena Gil, Melody Lachica Guini, Javier Cuberos, Veronica Souto, Clara Stivel, Susana Camin, Paola Cohen, Deborah Kaufman, Barita Vincenti, Denise Margueles, Miriam Bergonzi, Alba Castillo, Celina Levy, Beatriz Vaitkeviciuds, Sandra Astuena, Diana Susevich, Laura Ponturo.