Your name
Andrea Alkalay
Place of birth
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Place where you live now
Buenos Aires
3 words to describe you
artist, explorer, compulsive observer
Why do you take pictures?
Taking photos allows me to focus on the subtleties of reality, uncover hidden stories, and express emotions. It is a medium through which I can experiment, create, and communicate the poetic and political potentials that arise from observation. Photographs are my canvas, on which I apply various techniques of representation to raise questions about my interests. In other words, I do not use the medium to document anything. I believe that materials and shapes add layers of meaning to the image, as long as they are articulating some kind of discourse.
Where do you get your inspiration?
I am always curious about the discrepancy between what we see and what we know, and where these qualities contradict each other or co-exist simultaneously. Triggers that provoke astonishment, anger, ecstasy. Things that affect me, I take note of and keep them stored away for them to germinate at some point. I never know quite how, when, or where. I enjoy playing with illusions and find travel to be a fertile ground for inspiration, alongside experimenting in my studio. Artistic retreats often provide powerful experiences where one can discover new stimuli in unfamiliar situations.
Who are your influences?
Basically, I enjoy individuals who challenge mediums that claim to represent the real. Drawn to photo-based artists such as Luis González Palma, Joan Fontcuberta, Noemi Goudal or others masters like Gerhard Richter, Julio Le Parc. I am also influenced by architecture, design, and ancient practices that take us back to other times, from which I draw references to bring to the present.
What determines the subject matter you choose?
The landscape is a recurring theme at the core of my work, addressing the built environment, the fragile ecosystem, the urban expansion, to question our patterned beliefs influenced by life experience. However, the challenge lies in appropriating these commonplaces and truly understanding what personally triggers the experience. Sometimes, the subject emerges from experimentation. I employ various mediums such as photography, collage, painting, embroidery. Materiality is a focal point in my exploration, allowing me to delve into different layers or perspectives.
What impact would you like your art to have?
My works often take the form of inquiries into a wide range of concepts that are somehow difficult to perceive because they are part of our everyday routines. They shouldn't have direct answers but invite people to question how we live and to appreciate parallel universes. It may seem like an abstract answer, but I believe that by looking at my works, one can understand better. I try to be ambiguous as well, not taking firm positions. The more you delve into topics, the more you realize how little you know, which leads to an understanding of how small we are in the universe, right? . My expectation is to evolve to new levels of reflection.
What artwork do you never get bored with?
I never tire of revisiting the great authors I admire, or the monuments that inhabit the public spaces of my city. There are works that accompany you through time, revealing something new with each encounter, like the music of Charly Garcia, the films of Agnes Varda, the architecture of Francis Kere, the seas of Hiroshi Sugimoto, and the Japan of Roland Barthes. Art never bores you; instead, it transforms you.
Is there anything you want to add?
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Unearth
The sedimented nature of objects
Project Statement

Delving into the intersection of natural and human impact, the project explores how construction materials contribute to the rapid urban expansion of the modern city, where the accumulation of objects redefines the space, blurring distinctions between location and identity. The process involves research juxtaposing archaeological images, digital archives, construction waste, and natural elements. I organize them to establish connections using textile-inspired patterns and repetitions as a rooted language—a woven tapestry of connections.

Grid-based construction unveils the city's evolution, reminiscent of geological layers beneath the metropolis. The threads, whether as stitches, knots of location, cables, or potential routes, weave a visual narrative that unveils the underlying motives behind their transformation, where natural resources are buried or strategically arranged through regulated systems.

Unearth reflects on the passage of time and the cycles of decay and disappearance evident in both the natural and built environment. Reviving the essence of the Bedouin tribes who, in their pursuit of sustainable resources, weave their tents as part of their architecture, my aim is to integrate elements from the origin, forming new connections and reshaping our perception of the urban landscape.

- Inspired during the Intermix artist residency, Ministry of Culture, Saudi Arabia

Image 1 - The Sedimented Nature of Objects
This installation appropriates an archaeological image found in southern Arabia. A sculpted face from a buried past, predating the formation of the Saudi kingdom. It blends ancient and modern elements to evoke the idea of the enduring heritage within the context of the new city. Concrete bricks, rescued from dumpsters, act as pixels, forming a grid where the image is reconstructed modularly.
Image 2 -The Delicate Nature of the Built Environment
Through this installation lies an exploration of the construction/destruction processes and their resonance in the ever-adapting ecosystem. You cannot hold the sand because it will always spread away. 
On the fragil balance between human intervention and the resilience of nature, exploring the impact and echoes left by the structures that mold our surroundings. Glimpses from the past and future awareness.⁠
Image 3 - Unraveling the Rocks
When unraveling a fabric, the textile pattern becomes more evident. The act of fraying is a way of undoing, ultimately revealing its structure. The light fabric covers the rocks like a veil, and I open holes as pores, exposing the morphology of the rear composition (a pile of volcanic stones resembling a temporary sculpture). 
The act of unraveling becomes an excavation, revealing the sedimented stories embedded within the built and natural elements
Images 5-7 - Stacking the urban landscape to its heritage
The cultural origins of the Arab nomads are rooted in prehistory. Bedouins, driven by natural resource needs, have the practice of relocating and crafting shelters. Their textile tradition, woven into symbols and tents, is part of their architecture.
Image 11 - The sedimented nature of objects
This installation appropriates an archaeological image found in southern Arabia. A sculpted face from a buried past, predating the formation of the Saudi kingdom. It blends ancient and modern elements to evoke the idea of the enduring heritage within the context of the new city. Concrete bricks, rescued from dumpsters, act as pixels, forming a grid where the image is reconstructed modularly. They are arranged on shelves of unpolished glass, staggered, and supported by a totem-like tower.

andrea alkalay
@andrealkalay