Artist bio

IVANIA LASSO Visual artist based in San José, Costa Rica Ivania Lasso (Costa Rica, 1984) explores the deterioration of the city of San José, Costa Rica, where she studies urban textures, as evidence of the passage of time and imprint of memory. Her work includes various formats such as painting, assembly and installation. Graduated in Arts and Visual Communication with the specialty of Painting from the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, and later as a Bachelor of Education from the Universidad San Marcos of Costa Rica. She has been invited to exhibit by feminist collectives such as Casa Ma (CR) and in Portugal by the curator Rolando Castellón, as well as exhibitions in New York, El Salvador and Costa Rica. She has worked as a professor of Plastic Arts in various government institutions in addition to her artistic practice. In 2021 she was awarded an internship with the Panama Fem Art Coalition and Museo de Arte Costarricense Scholarship

Title

Invisible Cities

Medium/Genre

Mixed Media, Other

Artist Statement

Invisible Cities

My work addresses a theme of social and economic inequality found in violently ignored and overcrowded spaces. These informal communities, living on the margins of illegality, abandoned by the government, are constantly exposed to forced eviction. In my work I generate assemblies of found materials that are discarted in these communities. These fragments are a tool for studying how the settlements that are generated in a disorderly growth flow and highlight what is discarted as a possibility of creating and making visible the current problem.
The format of each ensemble is a reflection of the overcrowded spaces to which this population migrates, suffering from great systematic and social discrimination. The materials found expose the precariousness that surrounds them and prevents them from generating a sense of identity towards the space they inhabit. My work exposes the most present and most ignored social inequality in Latin America: the housing disparity of informal territories

How it fits into contest

Not only are individuals fighting a spiritual battle, our society is also fighting its own battle. My work deals with the issue of the struggle of the poor against economic power and the inequality between social classes, which represents a manifestation of evil on earth in our current society. As Ephesians 6:12 says, " For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." The struggle is not against people (flesh and blood) but against rulers, against the authorities (social inequality).



My work tries to bring attention to the abandonment of governments and of ruling classes towards communities in economic disparity; I generate assemblies of found materials that are discarded in slums and each ensemble is a reflection of the overcrowded spaces to which this population migrates, suffering from great systematic and social discrimination.

Few people struggle more with their faith as the poor and the abandoned and I ask for your help to continue bringing their plight to our attention.

How to Purchase this Artwork

For the acquisition of my work you can contact me through Instagram: @ivania.lasso or by email: lasso.art@gmail.com.



Each installation is around $3000 but the price varies with the number of assemblies that each installation carries. The cost of shipping is between $400 or $500 and is sent through DHL International Courier Service.

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