Mia Fernandes' works are connected with memory and relationships. As artist in residence within the U.K., Brussels, and Southern India, Mia has constructed an exceptional amount of pieces in a variety of materials.

Mia Fernandes trained in England at the Royal College of Art, London; Goldsmiths College, London; and Winchester School of Art. She exhibits her two and three dimensional creations within the U.K. and internationally. Drawing is the major element to her making and in 1998 she gained an award from the Cheltenham Drawing Competition. Her works are connected with memory and relationships, centering on animals and the environment.

As artist in residence within the U.K., British School of Brussels, and the Tasara Centre Kerala, India, Mia has constructed an exceptional amount of pieces in a variety of materials. Her ideas have lead her to travel to Lisbon and East Africa resulting in major pieces. For example, "Or not to be....", the A-Z of endangered animals and "While I was trying to explain you trapped me", an installation of charcoal drawings from memory of monkey portraits. The construction of mark- making and the manipulation of material is due to the subconsious. Marks and colour are layered and erased staining and forming a surface that exposes and hides signs. The images are composed with personal history and narrative, questioning survival and existence.

"The relationship with animals and the environment is metaphorical. The 'silence' of animals provides a major element as to why they can portray such powerful signs. We are able to place our own perceptions and ideas onto them and so create a character that we can identify".

Mia is currently lecturing part time on the BA/BSc Art for Public Space at Roehampton, University of Surrey in London, after having been involved in teaching, co-ordinating and instigating visual art educational programmes from 1993. She exhibits regularly in London galleries, both in solo and group shows.

For more information, visit her beautiful website: http://www.miafernandes.co.uk

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