ABYSSAL proposes a poetic and critical immersion into the deep ocean as a threshold territory. In a realm where light disappears, forms are transformed, and life adopts extreme survival strategies, the “abyssal” is not only a geographic condition but also an epistemological and sensory one, pointing to that which exists beyond the regime of human visibility.
The project brings together science and sensibility, drawing on deep-sea ecosystems and their life forms to question the limits of human perception, explore the relationship between scientific knowledge and imagination, and underscore the fragility of these ecosystems in the face of human activity.
Forma límite
Instalación, 2025.
Vidrio soplado artesanalmente, piezas recuperadas de antenas parabólicas provenientes de un depósito de tecnología en desuso, estructuras en hierro, luz y cable.
100 x 400 x 450 cm.
Fotografías: sebas_lopezb
Fotografías: @sebas_llopezb
Under Another Light
Painting, 2025
Charcoal, acrylic, and oil on canvas
120 x 108 cm c/u. (9 pieces)
The work proposes a shift in vision beyond the human optical regime. Inspired by abyssal organisms that perceive without sunlight, the polyptych constructs non-human perceptual landscapes in which the image emerges through other forms of sensory registration. An expanded scale and non-referential palette invite the viewer to observe from the threshold of perception.
Inverted Bestiary
38 drawings. India ink on Fabriano paper, 2025
33 × 35 cm (13 pieces); 25.5 × 32.5 cm (25 pieces)
The series brings together creatures interpreted from oceanographic archives, deep-sea biology studies, scientific literature, documentaries, and processes of imagined observation.
These drawings operate as a practice of sensitive translation: approaching the unknown through mark-making, reconstructing organisms that are rarely visible, and attempting a poetic reading through the graphic gesture. Taken together, the drawings form a speculative atlas that expands the research developed in Abyssal, in which drawing functions as a tool for observation, thought, and engagement with other biological worlds.
These works were presented at Espacio Alterno Gallery as part of the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the University of the Andes Alumni Association (UNIANDINOS).
Bogotá, August–September 2025.
