Cecilia Vicuña, the 77-year-old Chilean artist known for her ecologically and politically engaged practice, is profiled in her Tribeca home. The article describes her daily rituals of corpse pose and walks, her decades-long exile since the Pinochet coup, and her recent international acclaim including the Golden Lion at the 2022 Venice Biennale and the inaugural Icon Artist Gold Medal at Art Basel Miami Beach. A major solo show is on view at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, and MOCA Los Angeles will unveil a new commission, “Quipu of Encounters: The Dream of Water,” following her selection as the first recipient of the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Environment and Art Prize. The interview covers her studio practice, her focus on ecological collapse, and her work with Indigenous knotting traditions, poetry, and performance.
This profile matters because Vicuña represents a generation of artists whose work directly addresses climate crisis, Indigenous knowledge, and political exile, gaining belated but significant institutional recognition. Her practice—spanning sculpture, painting, poetry, and performance—offers a model for art as activism and care, and her recent awards and museum shows signal a shift toward honoring artists who combine aesthetic innovation with urgent social and environmental commentary. The article also highlights the tension between her growing fame and her need to protect her time and energy at an advanced age.