Maria Alcaide is a Spanish visual artist working with installation, film and text. She is interested in flexible methodologies and references that haven’t been normalized within the art field or academia, always taking as a starting point her own bodily experience and her economic and spatial limitations.
After having explored different expanded forms of narratives—such as a Youtube choreography about her lover, an ethnographic mockumentary about her family, a story-telling scenography about her job, and several movie-performances—her work has flourished into ultra-narrative, epic and colorful yet always politically engaged films and video installations, often working with amateur performers and actresses.
The combination of acute, bright visceral colors and a poignant exploration of identity and technology are present in her installations by using textiles, foam, and plastic or by giving a second chance to waste and leftover materials. Maria Alcaide also likes to play with the physical form of moving images, using multiple video channels or embedded screens into furniture.
In that way, she creates situations where everyday objects are altered or detached from their natural function. By establishing unexpected thematic liaisons, Maria Alcaide creates site-specific artworks where the personal and political intertwines, prompting the viewer to question their own social position.