This Week: Valeria Rocchiccioli's "Undiscarded" at UM Gallery Wynwood Building

This coming Saturday April 13th, 2013 from 2 to 9PM, the University of Miami Gallery at the Wynwood Building will inaugurate an exhibition entitled Undiscarded by Brazilian-born artist Valeria Rocchiccioli, a UM student who is receiving her Master of Fine Arts during this spring.

Born and raised in São Paulo, Rocchiccioli uses mass-produced discarded plastic objects such as bottle & aluminum caps and zip ties as her main medium weaving them into unpredictable abstract and colorful sculptures.

"Pieces made with synthetic materials grow in my studio like weeds grow in backyards and there is no rule for growth," says Rocchiccioli who uses what is readily available around her.

Using rare and non expensive materials the artist creates floating debris clouds or interlocked explosions in a large variety.

"I have to repeat the process countless times, creating a singularity out of the multiplicity," she says.

The densely-patterned sculptures draw inevitable comparisons to São Paulo’s landscape with its large population and diverse society where the artist studied and received  her B.A. in Industrial Design from the School of Architecture and Communications at Universidade Mackenzie. 

Rocchiccioli moved to Miami in 2008, later joining the University of Miami as a graduate student and teaching assistant. She was the recipient of the 2012 Juror Best in Show Award for MFA Candidates Exhibition in the Lowe Art Museum. 

This month,  the artist will participate in two other exhibitions, Sustainotopia at the Miami Beach Convention Center from April 16th to 22nd and Blue Sphere in the Wynwood Exhibition Center.