Influenced by the legacy of abstraction in 20th-century Latin American art, Argentine artist Cecilia Biagini examines the formal qualities of abstraction, with a particular emphasis on color and line, as she moves across media in her artistic explorations. In her untitled sewing machine drawings, Biagini blurs distinctions between textiles and drafting, resulting in works that range from rigidly structured to playful and improvisational. Subversion of medium and genre is integral to Biagini’s work, the effect of which, as noted by the poet Cecilia Pavón, is “as if the cerebral impersonality of geometry had only been a tool in service of the invention of new and unknown sensations.”
Cecilia Biagini’s work references both local and global aesthetic sensibilities. Inspired by the legacy of 20th-century Latin American abstract art, Biagini began creating her sewing-machine drawings upon arriving in New York from Buenos Aires. The qualities of her work convey a sense of travel and relocation, with threads winding across the page. By blurring the line between textile and drawing, the artist arranges her pieces to evoke a sense of lively movement. As the artist explains, “Sewing machine drawings were among the first works I created in Brooklyn, NY, after arriving from Buenos Aires. They have a topographic quality, moving across the paper’s surface, rushing forward, with the machine guiding the motion. They move randomly and embrace accidents along the way,” reflecting Biagini’s own style.