Donna Huanca
Donna Huanca (b. 1980) is a Chicago-born, Berlin-based artist whose work explores the intersections of identity, body, and the visceral experience of the human condition. Known for her interdisciplinary practice that spans painting, sculpture, installation, and performance, Huanca’s art often involves the manipulation of materials such as pigments, textiles, and body paint, creating immersive environments that challenge traditional boundaries between the viewer, the artwork, and the artist. Her work reflects a deep engagement with themes of skin, texture, and the performative nature of identity.
Donna Huanca, Llengua LLorona, 2019
One of Huanca’s most well-known series, Lalibela (2017), is an immersive installation where she combines large-scale murals, sculptural elements, and live performances, creating an emotionally charged atmosphere. Her use of living models covered in body paint or wrapped in textiles further emphasizes the fusion of the human form with the material world, blurring the lines between subject and object. Huanca’s use of color, texture, and sensuality in her work evokes a tactile response from the viewer, inviting a deep emotional and physical engagement with her pieces.
Huanca’s art moves beyond the visual, creating an emotional experience that resonates on a primal level. Through her intricate exploration of the body as both a physical and metaphorical space, she challenges viewers to reflect on their own relationship with identity, materiality, and embodiment. Her work often has an intense, almost ritualistic quality, suggesting the fluid and transient nature of identity, while also exploring themes of empowerment, vulnerability, and transformation.
Donna Haunca, Hydrazine, 2019
Donna Huanca, Double Scorpiod Cyme, 2019
Donna Huanca currently lives and works in Berlin, where she continues to push the boundaries of contemporary art with her emotionally charged, immersive installations. Her work, with its bold use of material and form, remains an influential and powerful exploration of the human body, identity, and the emotional landscapes we inhabit. Through her dynamic practice, Huanca invites viewers to reconsider the ways in which art, the body, and the self are interconnected.
Donna Huanca, SEED CELL REDUX, 2019