Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Joana Vasconcelos

Joana Vasconcelos is a French-Portuguese sculptor and multimedia artist known for her large-scale installations that demonstrate a feminist perspective and comment on cultural tradition and consumerism.Vasconcelos studied at the Centro de Arte & Comunicação Visual in Lisbon.The artist plucks basic items from reality and repeats them on an unprecedented scale to form the bones of something utterly different.She sees our belongings — everything from pots and pans to wheel rims and  fabrics to pianos and laptops  —as personal, ready-made building blocks for publicly-attuned art.Best known for her outsized, tongue-in-cheek sculptural installations, Vasconcelos often humorously takes on issues ranging from gender identity to consumerism. Her artwork assaults the senses with luxurious gigantism and operatic overtones, but they also resonate with something deeper than contemporary culture.Asked for advice for young artists, Vasconcelos says, “Never give up. Every time someone tells you to give up, just carry on.”More of Joana Vasconcelos‘ incredible installations can be found at www.joanavasconcelos.com