Art + Artists

Born in Ecuador, Edison Peñafiel migrated to the United States to leave the political and economic instability of his native country. His singular style integrates video and multimedia installation to create surreal echoes of our world, environments that translate experience. His work centers the migrant as a subject, informed by his own life. His early photography focuses on deconstruction and perception, absurdity and politics. The use of a camera plays with evidence, fact, and their manipulation in media. Socio-economic and political themes deepened with his shift to multimedia installations. By introducing looping video projections, Peñafiel imitates the loops that make up our history and present. His visions show people trapped in behaviors of movement and labor, always being watched.