Stella Arbelaez Tascón presented her thesis defense at the UCF Art Gallery (12400 Aquarius Agora Dr, Orlando, Fl.)
Having heard her rehearse for the presentation, several times, I was familiar with many of the threads that inspire her work, so I sat a bit distant from the crowd and sketched.
The sculpture by Stella in the foreground of this sketch is called The Broken Woman. She had a mannequin which she busted open with a sledge hammer. The distressed surface is covered in gold and hot pink. A sacred heart is in the open chest cavity representing sacrifice. Golden beams radiate from the heart. The crotch is busted open and dollar bills rest chaotically, illuminated from inside, representing the commodification of woman. The broken cage where the head would be is also broken open while a cell phone played static until it shorted out and died.
Stella expressed the idea of a work’s aura, of bringing the presence of it into your life. Her work is about healing. When asked if the healing is for her or others, she pointed out that she hopes to connect to others, but as she is not one of them, she can not know what a person viewing her work might feel. She wants to be honest about what she feels. She hopes the work will be healing to others.
The Cathedral, was set up on the lawn outside the gallery. It is comprised of over 20 foot high bamboo stalks arranged in a circle outside the gallery. In The Cathedral the visitor is greeted by the sounds of chirping birds when they enter into the circle, which would usually be silent in the evening. The feeling is of being engulfed by nature. Several people I overheard at the opening, expressed a sense of peace. The person is meant to feel elevated as if transported elsewhere. One thought to make the piece more permanent, was to recreate the cathedral with live bamboo, but Stella is also considering the option of recreating it in bronze. The Cathedral reminded me of the bird cage which was broken open above The Broken Woman.
Some work in the exhibition was small in size like intimate etchings of Memories of a Dead Love. Whereas The Cathedral was monumental in size. She feels that her work is moving from the micro to the macro. The larger work can be seen and experienced by more people. Each piece dictated its size. She wanted to experience the labor of chopping down the bamboo with a machete, it is physical sweet labor. Much of the bamboo was already collapsed in her yard, after hurricane Milton. When discussing the materials she used, she said, “This is me, I am the cell phone, I am that bamboo. The choice of materials is important to each piece.” The perfect home for The Cathedral would be as a permanent installation in a garden. She also feels a good location would be in a large city where it could have a large outreach.
In 2020, Stella walked the whole length of the Florida Scenic Trail which is over 1,100 miles, and it was a reset for her after the trauma of divorce. Her work reflects her journey of healing and growth. Soon after walking the trail, she created a persona called The Nature Goddess. She wears a black gown, has horns and a found animal skull on her staff. She performed in a park lying on the ground and crying for the devastation of nature imposed by humanity. She was asked why she does not do more performance art. She feels the action of physically moving the materials is in itself a performance. Painting is a private act of performance. These acts of performance are done as the work is created. She does imagine more performance art in her future.
Her work has begun to act as an advocate for the preservation of nature. The job of stopping humanities destruction of nature is too large for one person, so she has become a part of a movement. She wants to help make people aware so they can heal themselves and the earth they are a part of.
Stella is a semi finalist for the 2025-2026 Fulbright Grant and hopes to return to Colombia to research the role that technology and media play in an indigenous community there. She wants to share her knowledge of 2D animation and sees herself as a tool. She is part indigenous herself and wants to contribute to the empowerment and dissemination of their voices, while they author their own stories.
The work shown is just the beginning of her artistic journey. The work will continue to evolve. Three years ago she had no idea she would be producing the monumental work that is on exhibit today. She is excited to see what is yet to come. The art is intending to spark peoples empathy. Even a one degree shift towards empathy can make a difference in a world intent on division. Her work lets the viewer know that there is a way out, and there is hope. Anyone can overcome feelings of entrapment. When she moves her studio back to her house, the work might scale down, but she knows that as life happens, she will continue to grow and large scale work will take form and evolve as she does. For her, monumentality contributes to the presence of a piece.