info — libbi ponce

bio

Libbi Ponce (they/them, she/her) is an Ecuadorian artist, born in 1997 to a family of musicians, making sculptures, 360-degree videos, and installations. Ponce explores themes of Latinx-Futurism through a sculptural practice of world-building incorporating an ambitious range of materials including steel, bronze, resin, polyurethane, mortar, grout, terracotta, and glass. Inspired by the zoomorphic motifs from ancient Andean ceramics, Ponce constructs tactile sculptural objects which probe discourse on grief, intimacy, and historic folklore.

They have attended the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Oxbow Artists' Residency, Yale Norfolk Undergraduate Residency, and ACRE. Exhibitions include terciopelo at Selenas Mountain, BASE REMOVED at the Museo Antropológico y de Arte Contemporáneo, and Skyway 20/21 at the Tampa Museum of Art. They hold a BFA in Studio Art and BA in Philosophy from the University of South Florida. In 2021, Ponce completed a Fulbright Creative Research Fellowship in Ecuador. In 2023, they completed an ArtTable research fellowship at the Chrysler Museum Of Art. Libbi is the founder/director of galeria juniin in Guayaquil, Ecuador and Co-Director of Coco Hunday Gallery in Tampa, FL. Libbi is currently an MFA candidate in Sculpture at UCLA on the Graduate Opportunity Program Fellowship. Ponce lives and works in Los Angeles.

stmnt

Using dream logic, Ponce works with themes of Latinx-Futurism, grief, and modes of decolonization through a post-internet lens. From digital fantasy to physical, monumental immersion, Ponce's work embodies world-building sourced through archival research and memory. These generative fictions make way for imaginative narratives that re-examine historical metaphysical approaches.

Ponce incorporates an ambitious range of materials including steel, bronze, resin, polyurethane, mortar, grout, terracotta, and glass. Inspired by the erotic and anthropomorphic motifs from ancient Andean ceramics, Ponce constructs tactile sculptural objects which probe discourse on grief, intimacy, and historic folklore.

They are interested in experimentally reconstructed perspective, interspecies roles in historic folklore, and the Halo video game saga. Ponce's artistic practice layers planes of the virtual atop one another resulting in a multitude of transparencies that produce new forms of vision.

Ponce builds community through events and exhibitions at Juniin, the gallery space they founded in Guayaquil, with curator/writer Juan Felipe Paredes. Juniin offers an international platform for Ecuadorian artists showcasing new and experimental practices. Juniin works to highlight the work of underrepresented artists in Ecuador inclusive of BIPOC, femme-identifying and LGBTQ+ artists.

Libbi Ponce from Bemis Center on Vimeo.

photo credit: onon studio, Mafer Landin