Currency #193 Damnably Courageous

This piece is one of the most recent in the "Exchange Currency Series" created in 2024, inspired by the concept of the "face" on coins. It is a unique work consisting of a meticulously crafted female portrait executed on a treated circular pine wood cut, created using mixed media techniques with a palette of blue and green hues. Conceptually, the artwork is part of a project in which the artist, drawing from her own experience, explores the theme of foreignness and the sense of 'not being from here.' This particular piece is a portrait of a venezuelan immigrant in Europe and includes the Italian phrase "Dannatamente Coraggiosa" which translates to English as "Damnably courageous."

While conventional coins have a fixed value and typically depict a national figure, my coins showcase anonymous faces and offer variable, often arbitrary, selling values. These coins can function both individually and as panels alongside others from the same series, allowing for the creation of installations as vast as desired. I also can create panels on commission according to the preferences of clients. Feel free to get in touch, and we will be delighted to provide further information.

This series is about value and price. I propose to the public the acquisition of a currency as a transfer value only valid for future work of my authorship. This moving value, which has nothing to do with determining the value of the work itself (the currency itself), is decided, in addition to being completely arbitrary in nature, except for a reasoned valuation between the price of one currency and another. These currencies transfer the enhanced value of the artistic object for future work, deliberately leaving aside any symbolic overvaluation that derives from the creative work. However, each piece is a unique work elaborated with deliberate technical flaws, signed, and serves as a certification of original work. The norm is that the faces on currencies belong to kings, presidents of republics, or individuals who represent clear national identification. These currencies, by contrast, present a collection of anonymous profiles enveloped in disconcerting phrases that allude to the concept of a vast community of citizens who live in a state of 'not belonging,' characters who inhabit the depreciation that so often defines origins, laws, and inequality.