Camila Magrane is a multimedia artist originally from Caracas, Venezuela. Having a father from the US and mother from Venezuela, she grew up alternating between both countries. Being fully exposed to two different cultures gave her a greater understanding of what it means to have various perspectives.

After graduation from film school in Caracas, she moved back to San Francisco to continue her studies in photography and visual storytelling. Camila later moved to work in the game industry as a cinematic artist.

Most recently, she has been exploring the involvement of technology and interactivity in art. This has driven her to obtain a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with a concentration in Game Development. She continues to hone her skills as a creative coder through the creation of interactive videos, installations, and games.

Camila has been most noted for the creation of her augmented reality collages where she has established a postmodern aesthetic by combining traditional darkroom techniques with the use of digital tools.

Camila describes her piece, Counting Sheep, below:

This piece is from my series "Traces" - a 2021 collection of augmented reality art. The submitted work is 1 of 3 editions.

To view the augmented reality features of this work, download the app "Virtual Mutations" from the ios app store or the Google Play store.

Traces explores the relationship between the past and the present with a focus on the process of transformation as the connecting thread. The work consists of a series of collages and a collection of Polaroids that are accompanied by animations and video clips seen solely through the use of an augmented reality application (Virtual Mutations).

The scenarios presented in the static images act as literal stages for animated narratives. What once was a captured single moment echoes into motion, creating an additional layer as to what will come thereafter. The intention is not to detract from the simplicity of the static image but instead to create possibilities as to what the subjects in each setting could become through a lapse of time and allegorical imagery. A dialogue between the past and the present is established and the app itself acts as a mediator between these tenses, allowing the observer to have a glimpse of the afterthought.

The purpose of using augmented reality as an accompaniment to the static imagery is to invite the observer to take part, not only as a viewer, but as an active participant of the evocative and symbolic narratives represented in the diverse themes of each piece.

Many of the collages include interactive elements that alter the state of time and space when controlled by the individual viewer. Through these interactions, the works are intended to shed light on the subjective nature of the elusive concept of time and suggest that time and space are intrinsic categories of the mind and relative to the observer's point of view.

The Polaroids on the other hand, are stripped of interaction and complexities and instead composed of simple repetitive motions locked in endless loops and lacking in linearity. The titles of the Polaroids refer to states of mind and emotions which are interpreted by the motions of the displayed figure. The repetitive movements and ghostly traces of motion mimic the monotonous nature of our thought processes and emotional patterns and the difficulty of breaking out of these mental habits and routines which shape predictable patterns of behaviors.

To learn more about Camila Magrane and her art, check out her website.

Traces(Solo exhibition). Themes + Projects Gallery. Minnesota Street Project. SF

ARC Auction: Svane Family Foundation. Artsy

NightLife . California Academy of Sciences . SF

ILLUM . Midway Gallery . SF

After Dark: Delightful Devices . Exploratorium . SF

Human Machine - Festival of the Impossible . Chandran Gallery . SF

Rebooting the Future: Multimedia & Performance Festival . SOMArts Cultural Center . SF

Osma. California Institute of Integral Studies . SF

Allowance for Form. Guerrero Gallery. SF

Viva Con Agua . Millerntor Gallery . LA

Shift+Medium - 2nd Shanghai International Digital Vision Exhibition . Shanghai, China

Mutek . The Midway . SF

Layered Beyond: An Augmented Reality Exhibition . Beyond Baroque .LA

Made With Unity Showcase . Unite Berlin . Berlin, German

Echoes of Bauhaus . Ruth's Table Gallery . SF

Evolution 2.0 . Midway Gallery . SF