Vanessa Platacis is an artist Living and working
on a sustainable island off the coast of Savannah, GA
As a visual artist, I make large scale painting installations, objects and prints while also experimenting with unique fabrication methods. My research based art practice incorporates wall painting, a signature stenciling technique and installation strategies to produce meditations on time and material culture as well as exploring themes of historical memory and everyday experiences.
I’m deeply interested in how material culture shapes identity and reinforces or critiques cultural hierarchies. Drawing on multiple histories including street art, the decorative arts, craft and architectural design, I’m often exploring the relationship between object and experience and the work’s connection to place.
Vanessa Platacis (b. 1973, United States) received a M.F.A. in studio art from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Tufts University in 2005 and a B.F.A. in painting from New Mexico State University. By combining the history of the decorative arts, architectural design and pattern, Platacis hand draws and cuts stencils that are used to paint directly onto walls using a variety of spray paint techniques. She has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions internationally including galleries in Boston, Cambridge, Los Angeles, Miami, New Mexico and France as well as the Basel Art Fair in Switzerland. Platacis has been a guest speaker at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston and numerous universities along the east coast. Her first museum exhibition was in 2010 at the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, MA. Her current exhibitions include a 10 year retrospective of her work titled 4 Pleasant Street in Cambridge, MA and the 2,700 sq. ft. painting installation, Taking Place currently on view at the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA.
