Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen's art makes us reflect on ourselves

Empty Lighthouse is a reader-supported site. This article may contain affiliate links to Amazon and other sites. We earn a commission on purchases made through these links.

Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen is an artist with a cultural background of both Philippine and Danish culture that she perfectly reflects and mixes in her art through strict dialectic. She works with video and performances and her curious style often tries to go beyond the limits with the right music videos and the rough reality of documentaries, treating important themes like sex, race and identity in general.
By looking at her work we discover a variety of mediums and different forms of expression: in 2006's 'Ego Show' or 2007's 'Artist's Song', two performances in video and live, the vocal mobility represents the main pivots of the operation of abstraction requested by the viewer. In a documentary like 'Distorted Heart', instead, or 'Seeing Pilar', the personality and presence of the artist comes in contact with the world outside.

In the first one because of a broken heart and in the second because of a visit to the grandmother, Pilar, in Manila. They both start a train of thoughts on the reality of being human.
One of the latest works from Rasmussen is 'Mobile Mirrors', and it constitutes of a series of four mannequins made of mirrors' fragments and a performer wearing a tracksuit made of the same material, that moves in the exposed location, creating reflections, geometries and blending with the space.

The mannequins play with the light projected with an effect similar to a disco ball and look almost angelic, but at the same time quite nightmarish.
Lilibeth's creation is intended as a commentary on consumerism, and as she explains: "The mirror surfaces of the mannequins turn our gaze back onto ourselves, forcing us to become aware of our own bodies and consumption habits."
The artist creates a moment of contemplation on the relationship between humans, their environment and its counterparts, using the mirror as element of condemnation and absolution for excellence.