Vanessa Luz Vargas

And They All Came Back (2017-2018)We have an archive of family photos tucked away in the closets of my childhood home. My mother has multiple albums. My father has a single folder. In them I find myself looking at younger versions of the people who raised me in a country I barely know and surrounded by family and friends I have never met. This work is an attempt to relate, to connect deeper to that history of my family, to find where I stand as a person of Peruvian descent living in suburban America._{Installation pieces were co-designed with my father and handcrafted out of pine wood in the basement of my childhood home.}

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Desde Gran Chimú - La Primera Parte, 2025An exploration of the artist's ties to the land her family is from, Desde Gran Chimú includes imagery from her time traveling the country of Peru. The booklet includes tipped in photographs taken in her grandparent's home, connecting these experiences to the place she considers a home base._{Printed duotone via digital offset on uncoated natural & coated white paper.
Saddle-stitched with 6 small images tipped in by hand.
Edition of 50. Available via Cantua Editions}

Migrations, 2025Drawn to the yearly fall migration of the birds, the artist creates this space for the birds to fly through and find moments of rest. Migrations consists of video frames and still images of flocks and nature scenes along the Atlantic flyway, exploring the patterns in flight._{Printed CMYK and duotone via digital offset on mustard yellow, clear vellum, Kraft-tone French Paper, and natural paper stocks.
Hand-bound using a Japanese stab binding design.
Varied edition of 30. Available via Cantua Editions}

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b. 1996, New JerseyEDUCATION
2018   BFA in Photography, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NYEXHIBITIONS
2025   Jersey Art Book Fair, Dense Magazine, Monira Foundation x Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ
2024   A place to put it, Brooklyn Film Camera, Brooklyn, NY
2024   “Altered Memories” curated by Dominique Muñoz, UnBound! Edition, The Curated Fridge w/ Candela Books + Gallery, Richmond, VA
2020   There/Their/They’re, Oranbeg Press, Brooklyn, NY
2019   Every Woman Biennial, La MaMa Galleria & 222 Bowery, New York, NY
2018   Hive Mind, Pratt Manhattan Gallery, New York, NY
2018   Draft 15, The Yards Collective, Rochester, NY
2018   And They All Came Back, Pratt Photography Gallery, Brooklyn, NYPUBLICATIONS
2025   Pearl Press, Issue 26: Seed (digital)
2021   Color Tag, Volume 2 (print)
2020   Pearl Press, Issue 2: Cowboys (digital)
2020   Soft Lightning, Volume 2: Connection (print)
2020   Darkside Collective, Volume 2: A New Normal (print)
2020   Gibberish One, Volume 1 (digital)
2018   Draft Magazine, Volume 15 (print)PRESS
2023   Prattfolio. Not Only a Place, But a Feeling. November 30
2021   NYC Photo Community Newsletter. Issue No. 73. February 26AWARDS
2018   Distinction in Photography Award, Pratt Photography DepartmentRELATED WORK EXPERIENCE
Conveyor Studio, Book Binder, 2024 - Present
Feather Creative, Producer, 2018 - 2023
D.A.P. / Distributed Art Publishers, Sales & Marketing Intern, 2018

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