Biography
Catalina Aranguren was born in Bogotá, Colombia. At the age of 5 her parents moved and she was raised in Caracas, Venezuela. She studied K - 12th at the International School there. Growing up, her friends were from everywhere in the world; religion, race, culture and language were mere descriptions not definitions.
Catalina’s childhood was a constant wavering between languages, cultures, and third and first worlds, on a daily basis. At home, she would sit around the dining table and speak Spanish with her parents, turn, and speak in English to her sister.
Catalina moved to Chicago to study photography and design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and received her BFA. Before she graduated, she did a semester in Europe at the Spéos Photographic Institute in Paris, France.
Catalina is an artist and community organizer actively involved in enhancing and promoting Jersey City’s vibrant arts culture. An immigrant herself, Catalina is passionate about social equity and about giving everyone a voice, incorporating her passion for visual arts in grassroots creative placemaking efforts.
She is currently raising three bilingual, bicultural, biracial and bustling boys in New Jersey with her husband and their giant dog.
Artist Statement
Catalina Aranguren’s work is a dialogue about the modern world and our place in it. Light is the foundation and sets the tone of the conversation. Her work explores relationships between the learned and the subconscious. Because of the diversity of cultures in which she grew up, and perhaps in spite of them, her work explores the relationship between perception and cognition. Oftentimes in her work she captures an instant, which forces the viewer to come closer to explore for more detail, or to take a step back to understand the full picture. The idea of the “perceived” and the “actual” are rapidly shifting cultural concepts, though their ability to elicit reactions of fondness and fear remains a constant. As an artist she has the unique opportunity to exemplify, subvert, and redefine these concepts, adding her voice to a dialogue between the viewer and their history.
ALL IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHTED ©️ CATALINA ARANGUREN. THE USE OF ANY IMAGE FROM THIS SITE IS PROHIBITED UNLESS PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE ARTIST IS OBTAINED.