Collection: Ada Del Pilar
B. 1995 - Puerto Rico
Ada del Pilar Ortiz is a multidisciplinary artist. She obtained a BFA with a
concentration in Painting from the School of Fine Arts and Design of Puerto
Rico in 2018. Her work has been presented individually and collectively in
spaces such as the Penland Gallery (NC), Casa Quién (RD), El Kilómetro Gallery
(PR), Embajada Gallery (PR), the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico,
Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, Museo de Arte y Diseño de Miramar, Katherine
E. Nash Gallery (MN), among others. She has participated in residencies
including The Studios at MASS MoCA, Puerto Rico Artist Fellowship (2023),
Penland School of Crafts Winter Residency (2024), Proyecto Casitas Artistas
Residentes del Municipio de Bayamón (2022 - 2025) and The David Rockefeller
Creative Arts Center residency - Pocantico Prize (2025). Her work has been
commissioned by ArteYUNQUE: Cohort "Ensayos para la Naturaleza" (2024 -
2025) and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Puerto Rico under the "MAC en
el Barrio" program. Ada’s work has been supported by the Foundation for
Contemporary Arts, CATAPULT: "A Caribbean Arts Grant" programme and
"Máquina Simple" - Beta Local grant from the Regional Regranting Program of
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. She currently lives and works
in Ponce, Puerto Rico
ARTIST STATEMENT:
I am a multidisciplinary artist whose practice explores the architectural
condition, the meaning of home, and the remnants of built space through
their intimate relationship with memory. I approach processes that allow
me to "re-materialize" the experiences we have with places and objects,
engaging directly with physical locations or their documentation to
extract and reinterpret architectural fragments that bear witness to the
layered historical narratives woven into their facades.
I am particularly drawn to the architectural heritage of Puerto Rico and
the Caribbean, where I carefully study and recreate ornamental
elements from houses, facades, fences, balconies, and other sites as an
investigation on identity. Through experimental casting processes and
the use of alternative materials, I transform these architectural details
into sculptures and installations that possess a tactile, almost corporeal
quality, reflecting the human experience of dwelling and its ties to
memory.
My work examines the delicate tension between presence and absence,
permanence and impermanence, revealing the traces left behind by
time, human presence, and displacement. By translating architectural
fragments into new material forms, I call attention to the fragility of
memory and the vulnerability of cultural heritage in the face of neglect,
environmental forces, and sociopolitical change. My practice functions
simultaneously as an act of preservation and a meditation on loss,
inviting viewers to consider how architecture shapes not only the spaces
we inhabit, but also the emotional and historical landscapes we carry
within us.