LAURA MANINO

Using a pseudoscientific methodology, the artist seeks to discover the territory of which, as an artist, she is a part, by personal choice. Explore, walk and observe. Analyze the areas of accumulation of materials, the frequency of the finds, the influence of the weather or the tide. Collect manually and investigate the origin of the materiality found, with scientific advice. It carries out the collection of these structures on the beaches of Formentera with the authorization of the Ministry of the Environment of the Balearic Government.

In this work, the massive presence on the beaches of the remains of an animal species, belonging to the Porifera class of the Spongiide family, called common marine sponge, is questioned. These remains are a specificity of the territory. What were the conditions that occurred for the arrival of the sponges on the beach? What processes and metamorphoses did they go through? Imagine their history and journey until their fortuitous meeting. In the methodology of his work, he incorporates painting to explore the physical capabilities of the collected skeletons of marine sponges. From the absorption property of the material, observe the changes in texture, volume, weight, and flexibility.

Measure and weigh the marine sponge on a precision scale, before and after immersing it entirely in water pigments.
Record the physical changes produced and then pour the material absorbed by the sponge onto the support. Seek to get as many results as possible. Paint pools, settles, cracks, blends, or blends. traces remain
of the porosity and natural irregularity of the sponges. The experimental result, despite its methodical nature, is strange and accidental. With this working method, he seeks to create a possible emotional understanding of the landscape.

I work in a pendular way between abstraction and figuration, exploring painting as a medium that integrates the material, the narrative, and the gesture that constructs it. The repeated, automated stroke becomes a physical and performative act, directly connected to the body—my body as a tool of production and the bodies that emerge and fade within the work. This focus on gesture often leads me to experiment with other materials, such as ceramics, alternative supports, or the structure of folding screens. Through these explorations, I seek to disrupt the preconfigured images saturating digital media, proposing new approaches to visual and narrative representation. My work embraces experimentation, avoiding linear methods to redefine the final outcome through processes of discovery and transformation.

BIO

Brenda Sabbagh es una artista visual y cineasta radicada en Buenos Aires que explora la relación entre abstracción y figuración a través de la materialidad, la narrativa y el gesto. Estudió cine en la Universidad del Cine (FUC) y se formó en pintura con diversos artistas. Participó en Proyecto PAC, Cuatro x Cuatro y en residencias internacionales, incluyendo Pilotenkueche (Alemania) y Uncool Artist (Nueva York). Sus exposiciones individuales incluyen Un altar propio (Hijas del Arte, 2023) y El color de las formas (Galería Gascón, 2024). En 2025, presentó Instants of Liquefying into Unison en el Consulado Argentino en Nueva York. Actualmente, forma parte de Artistas x Artistas en Fundación El Mirador. Su trabajo investiga la relación entre materialidad y percepción, utilizando diversos materiales para desafiar la representación y disolver límites, creando obras en constante transformación.

Brenda Sabbagh is a Buenos Aires-based visual artist and filmmaker whose work explores the relationship between abstraction and figuration through materiality, narrative, and gesture. She studied filmmaking at Universidad del Cine (FUC) and trained in painting with various artists. She participated in Proyecto PAC, Cuatro x Cuatro, and international residencies such as Pilotenkueche (Germany) and Uncool Artist (New York). Her solo exhibitions include Un Altar Propio (Hijas del Arte, 2023), El color de las formas (Galería Gascón, 2024), curated by Ornella Costabile, and Instants of Liquefying into Unison (Argentine Consulate in New York, 2025), curated by Josefina Vilela. She is currently part of Artistas x Artistas at Fundación El Mirador. Through diverse materials and supports, she challenges representation, disrupts preconfigured images, and proposes new forms of visual perception.