Donna Huanca

Donna Huanca is an American artist known for her immersive, multi-sensory installations that combine painting, sculpture, sound, and live performance. Born in 1980 in Chicago to Bolivian parents, Huanca draws from her Andean heritage to explore themes of the body, identity, transformation, and the relationship between humans and their environment. Her work often incorporates live models, who are painted and positioned as part of her installations, creating living, breathing sculptures that blur the lines between performance art and static installation. These performances emphasize the temporality and fragility of the human body.Huanca's practice is characterized by her use of natural and organic materials, including textiles, sand, and oils, which she layers and integrates into her paintings and sculptures. These materials evoke a sense of tactility and impermanence, mirroring the transformations of the live models within her work. By combining the human form with abstract, textured surfaces, Huanca challenges traditional boundaries between art forms, creating spaces where bodies and objects exist in symbiosis. Her work often reflects themes of ritual, healing, and the power of the feminine, grounding the viewer in a meditative experience of color, texture, and form.In works such as Piedra Quemada (2017), exhibited at the Belvedere Museum in Vienna, Huanca transformed gallery spaces into immersive environments filled with painted figures, large-scale canvases, and sculptural installations. The models moved slowly through the space, interacting with their surroundings, while layers of sound created an enveloping atmosphere. This work exemplifies Huanca’s interest in creating holistic, sensory experiences that engage not only the eye but also the body and emotions, allowing audiences to reflect on their own physicality and presence.Huanca’s installations have been exhibited internationally, including at institutions such as the Zabludowicz Collection in London, the Marciano Art Foundation in Los Angeles, and the Copenhagen Contemporary. Her work speaks to the transformative power of art to engage with deeper questions of identity, ancestry, and bodily autonomy, while challenging traditional modes of viewing. By integrating live performance with sculptural elements, Donna Huanca continues to push the boundaries of contemporary art, inviting viewers to enter spaces of contemplation, transformation, and connection.