Aymar Ccopacatty: Culture Bearer and Artist and Conservator

Aymar Ccopacatty is an artist, culture bearer, conservator, teacher and community organizer and he will be at Erase starting June 12, 2025 for his solo exhibition.

. Through sculpture, textiles, performance and installation, Ccopacatty’s work uses traditional weaving techniques that speak to indigenous knowledge and environmental activism.In addition to his artistic practice, Ccopacatty consults with art institutions, such as the Smithsonian Institution, on collection care. He has a BFA in Sculpture  from the Rhode Island School of Design and a Master of Science with a concentration in Textiles Conservation from the University of Rhode Island

"His environmentally based sculptural work circles back to his Andean roots on Lake Titicaca where the making of wampus, traditional reed boats, is still practiced. Aymar learned this skill of boatmaking when young, but now instead of using the Totora reed native to Lake Titicaca, he chooses non-traditional materials: plastic bottles, woven plastic, and phragmites reed. He recognizes that plastics are hard to conserve, which is problematic for any institution considering one of his pieces for their collection." [https://andeantextilearts.org/aymar-ccopacatty/]

RESIDENCIES

2024, Rhode Island School of Design, Artist Research Residency. [Providence, RI]

2021, Independence Seaport Museum [Philadelphia, PA]

2020, Santa Fe Artist Institute [Santa Fe, NM]

2018, Museum of International Folkart [Santa Fe, NM]

2013, VII Bienal SIART [La Paz, Boliva]

2012, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Artist Leadership Program