Why Are We So Afraid? In Conversation With Gimena Garmendia and Florencia Montefalcone
SUDESTADA is a multidisciplinary studio intersecting art and fashion.
Image courtesy of Florencia Montefalcone and SUDESTADA.
Nestled in a cozy Greenpoint studio is SUDESTADA, a multidisciplinary studio intersecting the fashion and art of emerging artists through collaboration and connections. From July 11 to August 4, the Argentinian founder Gimena Garmendia teamed up with designer Florencia Montefalcone, also known as Flopi, to display Why Are We So Afraid? Montefalcone, the Buenos Aires-born and San Francisco-based textile designer, centers her work around the historical objectification of the female nude body, autonomy, and the sacredness that is the human body.
The exhibition raises the question, “Why are we so afraid?” It allows viewers and participants to question what they fear, why they fear it, how to combat it, and how it can be a catalyst for growth. This not only served as a gallery and residency for Montefalcone but also as an interactive workshop. Visitors had the opportunity to create amulets and paint their own silk scarves. The objective of the workshop: To paint without fear. There was no practicing on pen and paper, and whatever design you created on the silk, could not be erased. After that first brush stroke, there was no going back, so it was imperative to find love in the imperfections.
The closing night of Why Are We So Afraid comprised artful food spreads by Caroline Güntert and podcast interviews by Peruvian creative space Chevere Means Cool. Throughout the night, Chevere Means Cool went around the room to interview people for their podcast, asking people about fear, what Why Are We So Afraid? means to them, and how they can look past fear. With the help of Good Boy Wine, each interview was authentic, transparent, and vulnerable.
By the time the residency ended, Montefalcone created one of her largest hand-painted pieces with the help of the visitors to develop the first 100 pairs of her signature Love Me Boots. The boots will personify Montefalcone’s prompt, the Mythology of Fear; various stories compiled from visitors. These stories will then be translated into the colorful organza and transformed into boots. With each pair being slightly different than the next, the Love Me Boots will represent each person who will embody them.
Garmendia and Montefalcone sat down with 1202 MAGAZINE to discuss their fated collaboration, what fear means to them, and how they want to shift the concept of fear through their efforts and works.
Image courtesy of Florencia Montefalcone and SUDESTADA.
I would love to hear how and why you chose to pursue your passions today.
Florencia — I’m a textile artist. I recently graduated with my BFA at CCA. My practice is based mostly on painting textiles and creative, experimental garments with them. I’m also a weaver. I do big weaving projects that involve painting on threads, then weaving them on the loom, and making ponchos. As part of my work, I’m also a photographer and performance artist. It’s a part of my research behind the paintings that I do on silk. It’s a way in which I assess images and how I judge and develop frameworks.
Gimena — I’m the founder of SUDESTADA, which is a multidisciplinary studio at the intersection of fashion and art. SUDESTADA was first born as a consultancy agency. My background is in communications. After the years, the project started evolving. What I want is to be able to give opportunities to amazing artists like Florencia and generate connections between the art and fashion worlds. They are 100% intertwined and when they are together, they are so powerful. Sometimes, this is not done because there is no one place that allows both of them to experiment and play around with one another. It’s really based on human connections. I’ve always described myself as a people person. What I learned after 10 years of working in the fashion industry: People really want to make a difference. It’s important to make a difference, know someone, hear their story, and understand their story. When you come together in that collaboration, it’s powerful.
How did your connections flourish into a collaborative work partnership?
Gimena — Many years ago, I was introduced to Flopi through a friend that we have in common who lives in New York. She was also doing a project. Last year, I started doing five or six exhibitions to see if people would engage with them. It started to happen. I wanted everything to be different, from the exhibitions to the workshops. My friend said she knew an artist based in San Francisco and that her work would align with my aesthetic. I saw her work and asked my friend for her number, and when she gave it to me, I already had her number on WhatsApp. We talked about two years ago. That is the power of human connections.
Florencia — It flourished from there. This good friend of hers is a good friend of mine. We became online friends because of friends in common, and we’re both textile artists. She was doing a studio visit at my studio in Uruguay at the time, and she said I should collaborate with Gimena.
Once you had the conversation of collaborating, what was the creative process like after that?
Gimena — When I work with someone, I like to understand their story and what their work is about. I like to listen to what she has done already and what we can add to it while allowing her to be truthful about what she wants to communicate. The beginning was about understanding her work, where it came from, and her concept of the human body. From there, we started the conversations. Then, she got married and showed me the boots. After brainstorming and curating, she said she could come to New York to paint for a residency. That was the first time I opened up a studio. I usually do exhibitions for one or two months, but nothing is happening. This was experimental; she was painting. People were going to be able to see everything to collaborate. The idea is not only for Flopi to be at SUDESTADA and show her work but for her to create her own community.
Florencia — I was really excited about seeing the bridge between fashion and art. It’s been a theme that I’ve been working around, and it’s very challenging. The idea of fashion being frivolous is something that I’ve been wanting to understand and challenge because I don’t think that’s true at all. Fashion is identity, and I really want to highlight that. It’s been challenging in my art practice. Considering myself, I was questioning if I should be in a gallery space or do a pop-up or fashion show. Being able to do something with Gimena meant that I could really bridge both worlds. I was really excited to see how Gimena’s curatorial background would show my work that way. Part of that was being here for a month as a resident. I don’t really sketch. I create from what I’m feeling, thinking, and researching at the moment. It’s based on where I am, who I’m talking to, what ideas are crossing my mind, and my bodily experience. It was really about finding those opportunities, and this was a perfect one. Creating the dinner and the workshop was an incredible culmination because the theme of the exhibition was really born from dinners with my friends. It turned out great to have dinner with strangers who became friends because we’re sharing vulnerabilities and talking about Why Are We So Afraid?
Did you guys split up any tasks and roles for Why Are We So Afraid? Or was everything a 50/50 conversation?
Gimena — The work is 100% Flopi. She is the artist behind it. I curated it to just talk about the possibility of projects. The first project was the boots for her wedding. She was more into organza, and I suggested we could have some with silk. I gave her my vision from my experience and my side. She also has her own project. This is what defines her work as an artist.
Image courtesy of Florencia Montefalcone and SUDESTADA.
Why did you choose the theme, Why Are We So Afraid?
Florencia — I was having conversations with girlfriends I grew up with in my teenage years. I reconnected with them over the past winter, which was my summer because I was in the South American hemisphere. I realized how much the feelings of being afraid, taking the next step, or showing yourself how you want was something that was happening to everyone. It’s been a feeling that I’ve already been aware of in my own artistic practice because I’ve been in school these past few years. I realized all of the projects that were most meaningful to me scared me the most, or I felt too vulnerable to actually talk about. When I pushed myself to do them, there was a thrill of pure excitement…I really needed to do this. I felt so vulnerable about everything I was doing, but then a critique session with all of my peers created an amazing conversation. it went on for hours. It gave me a nice sense of empowerment, knowing that the next time I feel bad, there will be growth. I decided that we should talk about fear and recontextualize its state as something that’s less threatening and more guiding toward a place of growth and purpose — like a compass.
What is fear to both of you?
Florencia — Fear is a state of being, not an emotion. We tend to emotionalize it. On the other hand, it’s a guiding compass leading you toward a catalyst for change.
Gimena — I think fear is an emotion. It’s what we learn, and society shapes it. I think that when we are growing up, they teach us to be super afraid of things. I wouldn’t need to be afraid because, in the end, life is an experience. It’s an emotion. Maybe it’s a stage. We need it, but not that much. We need to be able to take risks. It’s an emotion with a really bad reputation, so we don’t talk much about it or relate to what everyone is feeling. It paralyzes us. If we talk about it more, it’ll help us overcome our challenges.
