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KENIA ALMARAZ
MURILLO
Kenia Almaraz Murrilo is a contemporary Bolivian pluri-disciplinary artist. She grew up in Bolivia until the age of 12, at which point she moved to Paris accompanied by her older sister.
Kenia pursued studies in art, initially at Paris 8 University (2012-2013), then at Paris 1 University (2013-2015), and finally at the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris (2015-2020), from which she graduated with honors from the jury.
In addition to her extensive art studies, she underwent training in low-warp weaving alongside the artist Simone Prouvé. This artisanal transmission allowed Kenia to reconnect with the ancestral and familial knowledge of Bolivian weaving. She descends from a lineage of weavers living along the Andes mountain range.
From her early weavings, Kenia decided to incorporate light in various forms. Woven, embroidered, or suspended in the midst of her pieces, this light traverses the compositions, imposing a calligraphic rhythm. Car headlights, scooter or truck lights give some pieces a piercing and mesmerizing gaze.
By playing with these different registers, she proposes a meeting between natural and industrial materials, developing her own style that merges woven geometric forms with recycled urban elements.
By playing with these different registers, she proposes a meeting between natural and industrial materials, developing her own style that merges woven geometric forms with recycled urban elements.
Her inspirations stem from her dreams, which she transcribes and draws, as well as urban legends from Bolivia. She blends these references to create a personal mythology steeped in symbolism.
Simultaneously with her weaving journey, Kenia also delves into painting. Through oil painting on canvas, screen printing, and mural painting, she presents colorful compositions punctuated by geometric forms and vibrant color vibrations. She draws inspiration from neo-Andean architecture and Bolivian muralists accustomed to adorning their buildings with long lines of color. She collaborates frequently with the artist Elliott Causse on a series of murals between Paris and Santa Cruz, emphasizing the urban influences in her work to offer immersions into the city's flows.
Born in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, 1994
In all these forms of expression, Kenia aims to offer works loaded with memories from her childhood in Bolivia while sharing glimpses of her inner world populated by strange animals and fantastic landscapes.
Since 2021, Kenia has joined a traditional dance group called Caporales based in Paris. This Bolivian dance is part of the many folk dances of the Oruro Carnival, one of the world's largest carnivals (classified under UNESCO world heritage), which, in addition to the thousands of dancers in Bolivia, has hundreds of branches worldwide.
Kenia thus engages with the Mi viejo San Simon Paris group, participating in numerous performances and parades throughout France and neighboring countries. She finds herself mesmerized by the repetitive movements of synchronized colorful costumes around her during parades that can last up to five consecutive hours. She experiences this as a kinetic and psychedelic journey on the verge of trance. To pay tribute to this energy, she starts incorporating fragments of costumes worn during various ceremonies and parades into her artwork.
By integrating these costumes into her weavings, Kenia loves the idea of honoring their swirling shapes, vivid colors, and the entire community of dancers and artisan tailors in Bolivia, for whom dance is not just a sport but a spiritually demanding experience, akin to a pilgrimage.