IlluminArts IlluminArts and The Bass Museum present: Maria Martinez-Cañas: Revelations 

October 20, 2022

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In this musical performance, IlluminArts explored the layers of meaning beneath, within and beyond the new works Maria Martinez-Cañas created for her exhibition, Absence Revealed at The Bass Museum. The works comprising Absence Revealed came about through two recent personal events in Martinez-Cañas’ life: the loss of her mother and the chance finding of her Miami home’s original wallpaper while renovating. The works highlight physical and emotional processes of excavation: the act of revealing and uncovering, as well as the surfacing of pain, loss and absence. Martinez-Cañas created these works by collaging items from her personal archive of found objects, including materials that the artist’s mother had taken from Cuba during her exile in 1960, actively engaging with the ideas of memory and loss. The musical program was performed twice during the evening of October 20th for the Miami Beach Culture Crawl and included 10 new improvisations by internationally renowned cellist, Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, as well as songs by William Bolcom, Gilda Lyons, Hector Campos Parsi, Joseph Schwantner, Leo Brouwer, Heitor Villa-Lobos and more.

 

As a precursor to this event, world-renowned cellist Saeunn Thorsteinsdóttir led a community improvisation workshop on Monday, October 17 at 6:30 PM at Miami Beach Botanical Garden. This free special workshop was open to all  and no previous musical experience was necessary to participate. Sæunn is a musician driven by exploration. She is looking to create meaningful and powerful experiences that can touch the soul and can only exist in the moment. Her mission is to create spontaneous compositions, intuitive performances, and experimental collaborations that can cut beyond words and deeply connect people.

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