Catalina Torres Chilean, b. 1991

For me, art has been a tool for grounding — for giving material form to — the things that surprise me or spark my curiosity. I'm especially drawn to light and the passing of time, and I feel the need to hold on to them through observation and experiment.

Creative processes are one of the most valuable parts of the work, and where I put most of my energy. Starting a new piece is like stepping into the terrain of a game: set a few rules and begin playing. That is where the best encounters happen. Painting, drawing, photography and video are my main techniques.

I work with whatever is close at hand: glasses, bottles, a curtain, the wall of my house at a certain hour of the afternoon. I want some trace of how the image was made to stay visible. Sometimes that appears as unfinished areas or grids left exposed within the painting; other times as an incomplete image that the viewer finishes on their own.

Absurdity turns up now and then, mostly as an attitude of unsettling the laws of the obvious. There is no getting around the fact that light is what allows us to perceive the world — things exist because we see them. And there is no getting around the fact that time simply passes and does not stop; we are part of it.