Artist: Día Muñoz
Dates: September 08th 2022 to October 28th 2022

The body of work presented in Intestinal Affair is a self-portrait of the artist gut health and ecology after contracting COVID-19 in October 2020. Studies show that patients with COVID-19 had a symbiont depletion and pathogen enrichment due to the virus leaving a weak immune system and microbiome biodiversity. It is estimated that 40% of the world’s population suffers from problems related to the intestine. In a study carried out on 204 patients who had contracted COVID-19, 50% had developed intestinal problems as a result of the virus.

During her residency at Art House, San Clemente (USA), Dia had the opportunity to live with a health coach specialized in gut health. It’s there where the artist understands a little what was happening inside her body and she begins to research why the biodiversity of her microbiome had decreased.  That is why she decides to use art as a physical medium to talk about this important relationship between “good” bacteria and “bad” bacteria The entire residence was a path towards well-being and the regeneration of the gut health. Dia after going through process of healing, nutrition and homeopathic medicine She achieves to increase the biodiversity of microorganisms that live within it and begins to establish her immune system and strengthen her gut and which is also connected with mental health.

Intestinal Affair shows the intestine in different stages and its micro-inhabitants trying to regenerate it. Through organic sculptures and color, Dia shows the relationship symbiotic that exists within the intestine with bacteria, as it is wrapped and has this intimate relationship with the organs, in this case regenerating the diseased intestine.

With this exhibition, the PONCE+ROBLES gallery begins its cycle of exhibitions “Artist in Residence” within its “Permanent Connection Center” program at the that questions the role of gallery spaces today. With this cycle, tries to value the work of the Artists’ Residencies, so important for the their careers, and the collaborative role of galleries in these relationships.

Dia Muñoz is a multidisciplinary artist born in Ecuador (1989) and who lives between Guayaquil (Ecuador), Palm Beach (USA) and Madrid (Spain). In her work, she is interested in the intersection between science, nature and art. How does it influence us? nature? What is the relationship between microorganisms and organisms? How collaborate with nature through biotechnology, bio-mimetics and art? There is something hidden in the secret life of organisms that hide an intelligence beyond what we can find in technological advances or in artificial intelligence. Dia considers that, within nature, and through science, another universe underlies: the true regenerative and eternal wisdom. Their projects of hers always start by investigating the smallest organisms and  their secret abilities of resilience and their influence on our body, behavior and Health. By investigating natural intelligence, Dia transforms it into a sculptural language, installations and video performances. Dia’s work has a visceral, organic and sensual appearance that tries to attract the viewer to have an affair with each sculpture to highlight our relationship with our intestines. She highlights the relationship between microorganisms and organisms, host and bacteria.

Dia Muñoz graduated in fine arts from the School of visual arts, New York, USA and has a master at Central Saint Martins in Materials of the Future (2019); she has participated in several collective shows in New York (2014) at the design week in Milan, Italy (2019), the design week in Holland (2019), and at the Naturalis Museum in Leiden, Holland (2019); She has her first Solo Show in Ecuador carried by Proyecto Nasal in Guayaquil and Quito (2021); She participates in a collective exhibition in Ponce + Robles Madrid, Spain (2021); She exhibits at the Museo de los Metales, as a parallel show to the Cuenca Biennial, Ecuador (2021-2022); She participates in a collective show part of Zonamaco, led by Proyecto Nasal in Mexico (2021); Her work has been seen in the Arco Madrid 2022 and Parc Lima 2022 fairs (Ponce+Robles, Madrid, Spain).