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Fernanda Cortes

MA work

SHARIK'S LEFTOVER

My work starts with a piece of magic realist story telling about a street dog called Sharik who is scientifically experimented upon by having his brain removed and a human one transplanted in its place. He survives this operation and after a few weeks starts to display human intelligence and behaviour - including the ability to speak and communicate human-like demands and desires. However, at this point of articulation the operation is reversed and his canine brain restored so that he becomes a dog again.  

Is this surgical experiment an act of cruelty or love? How much should we give and then take back?  Hopefully, the pieces of art that I am working on will cause the viewer to ask such questions. 

Info

  • MA Degree

    School

    School of Humanities

    Programme

    MA Ceramics & Glass, 2016

  • I am Fernanda Cortes, I am from Mexico City. I am a designer, an artist and my material is clay. 

    I am interested in exploring clay not just as a material but also as a source of language and emotion. I sculpt because I am creating characters, personas and feelings, like a mirror reflecting an image of the human condition.

  • Degrees

  • Bachelor of Product Design: National Autonomous University of Mexico UNAM-Faculty of Architecture, Centre of Investigation for Industrial Design, México City, 2014
  • Exhibitions

  • In Context, Preston Fitzgerald’s Private Home, London, UK, 2016 ; The Emerging and the Established,Christie’s South Kensington, London, UK, 2016; RCA School of Material Work-in-progress Show, Royal College of Art, London, UK, 2016; RCA School of Material Work in Progress Show, Royal College of Art, London, UK, 2015; Bienal Artes Visuales UNAM, Galeria Antonio Ramirez Escuela Nacional de Artes Plasticas, Mexico City, Mexico, 2016
  • Awards

  • Abraaj RCA Innovation Scholarship, 2014; DGECI Grant (Dirección General de Cooperación e Internacionalización) National Autonomous University of Mexico, 2013