Argentine-Spanish visual artist and photographer Guadalupe Plaza Petersen has established herself as a trailblazer at the intersection of humanity and nature. Currently based in Barcelona, her transnational perspective is reflected in an evocative body of work spanning photography, video art, and installation. With formal training in Argentina, Spain, Italy, and Indonesia, Plaza Petersen weaves together memory, ecology, and the emotional dimensions of the Anthropocene. Her projects, including Susurros de la Tierra and Return to Paradise, invite audiences to question and reconnect with the planet amidst a changing world. Internationally recognized, her art has been showcased at The Photographers’ Gallery (London), the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Salta (Argentina), and more. You can explore her journey and projects further at 🌐 www.guadalupeplazapetersen.com.
Below, we present our interview with Guadalupe Plaza Petersen:
1. Your work frequently merges art, technology, and community engagement in innovative ways. Can you share how your background in visual studies informs your approach to socially-driven art projects?
My approach is rooted in the intersection of art, nature, and human experience. I was trained in visual arts and photography, but my practice evolved through my experiences living and working across different cultures — from Argentina to Indonesia and Europe. This intercultural exposure shaped the way I understand the landscape, not as a backdrop but as a living presence that reflects social, political, and emotional layers.
In projects such as Susurros de la Tierra, I explore how the environment holds memory — a kind of silent archive of human and non-human narratives. My process involves deep observation, immersion, and dialogue with the land, combining photography with other media to build visual and emotional bridges between the individual and the collective, the intimate and the planetary.
2. Much of your practice deals with migration, memory, and territory. How do you envision using emerging technologies, like AI or VR, to further explore or disrupt the narratives around these themes in your future work?
I see technology as an extension of perception — a tool that can both connect and alienate us. I’m particularly interested in how artificial intelligence can reveal the tension between nature’s organic language and the algorithmic patterns of the digital world.
For instance, I imagine developing a project where AI processes fragments of my landscape images from Return to Paradise, generating abstract topographies that reinterpret our connection with the Earth. These hybrid landscapes could question the limits of representation, exploring how memory and territory are being reconfigured in this era of technological mediation.
The goal is not to oppose nature and technology but to explore the fragile space where they coexist — the liminal zone between what is real and what is constructed.
“Technology as an extension of perception — a tool that can both connect and alienate us. I’m particularly interested in how artificial intelligence can reveal the tension between nature’s organic language and the algorithmic patterns of the digital world.”
From the project “Susurros de la Tierra”. A visual reflection on ecological fragility and the poetic coexistence between decay and renewal.
3. You are actively involved as an educator and mentor across various institutions. What advice do you find most effective when supporting young artists in developing their own social impact projects?
I always tell my students and emerging artists that the first step is to find an authentic voice — one that speaks from vulnerability rather than from certainty. Art that truly resonates is born from a deep and honest encounter with oneself and the world.
I encourage them to engage with their surroundings: to walk, to listen, to document the invisible. Social impact begins with sensitivity, with being present. Once that awareness is established, technology, methodology, and aesthetics follow naturally.
4. Your recent projects, Return to Paradise and Susurros de la Tierra, both evoke ecological and emotional urgency. How do you navigate between personal exploration and global reflection in your creative process?
For me, both projects emerge from a place of personal transformation and existential questioning. In Return to Paradise, I wanted to step away from the autobiographical approach of my previous works and shift my focus toward the landscape — to observe it as a mirror of our human condition.
It was a challenge to disappear behind the camera, to let the landscape speak. The series became an act of surrender — an exploration of loss, time, and regeneration. Nature, in its constant state of flux, became a metaphor for the instability of our times.
In Susurros de la Tierra, this exploration deepens. It’s an attempt to listen to the planet as a sentient body, to translate its silences and wounds into visual form. The work invites contemplation but also responsibility — a call to recognize ourselves as part of a greater, symbiotic organism.
“The work invites contemplation but also responsibility — a call to recognize ourselves as part of a greater, symbiotic organism.”
From the project “Susurros de la Tierra”. A visual reflection on ecological fragility and the poetic coexistence between decay and renewal.
5. Looking ahead, are there any upcoming collaborations, exhibitions, or research initiatives that you are particularly excited about?
I am currently developing a new phase of Susurros de la Tierra that integrates sound, archival materials, and environmental data to build immersive installations. This next chapter will be presented as part of an environmental art initiative in Spain in 2026, where the focus will be on the intersection between memory, ecology, and contemporary image-making.
At the same time, I continue to work on the publication of Return to Paradise as a photo book — a poetic journey that connects visual narrative with philosophical reflection.
Both projects are driven by the same question: where do we stand in this symbiotic world, and how can art help us imagine new forms of coexistence?
Guadalupe Plaza Petersen’s work moves us to consider not only our ecological legacy but also the subtle interplay between technology, art, and the human spirit. Her vision is an invitation for us all to reconnect, reflect, and imagine possibilities for a more harmonious coexistence with the world around us.
Editorial Staff 2025
