Nuit Blanche: The Home I Never Knew

A video art installation by Sara Vargas Nessi sponsored by George Brown College

The Home I Never Knew: Art installation rendering, 2024. Rendering by Sara Vargas Nessi

Sara Vargas Nessi
The Home I Never Knew

October 5, 2024, 7:00 pm – October 6, 2024, 7:00 am
George Brown College, School of Design
3 Lower Jarvis Street, Toronto

Experience the distant landscapes of Venezuela through the colourful abstract video projections. The installation explores the emotional connections we develop to places we’ve never visited.

Ten years after the artist left her home country, she recalled the stories her father shared about Venezuela’s extraordinary natural wonders—places she had never had the chance to visit. She realized that she never truly appreciated her home until she left and was curious to learn more. Unfortunately, because of the worsening political situation and the remote locations, most Venezuelans will only see these places in photos and videos. The Home I Never Knew is a video installation that lights up the balcony at the heart of George Brown College’s School of Design building. The dreamlike scenes are based on Venezuela’s landscapes and are shown in an abstract way. The videos show colourful paintings with shadow silhouettes inspired by well-known natural locations and icons in Venezuela. Based on reference images and inspired by her dad’s travels across Venezuela in the 1980s, the installation explores the emotional connections we make with places. It reflects on the idea that the only true distance is physical.

The Home I Never Knew: Still image from video sequence La Gran Sabana, 2024. Photo by Sara Vargas Nessi.

About the Artist

Sara Vargas Nessi is a Venezuelan visual artist with a background in theatre. Her ongoing project, Shadows, has been shown in various solo and group exhibitions. She has worked on multiple art installations, including Fear of Passion (2016), Light Source (2018), and Memories (2022). In 2023, she was selected for the RBC Emerging Artist Network. In 2016, she graduated from Centennial College’s Fine Arts Studio program and is currently pursuing a degree in Brand Design at George Brown College.

Learn more at Nuit Blanche’s website.

For more information, contact: NuitBlancheTO@toronto.ca

The Home I Never Knew: Still image from video sequence Orquídeas, 2024. Photo by Sara Vargas Nessi.

Sponsored by

George Brown College, School of Design
3 Lower Jarvis Street, Toronto, ON M5E 3Y5

George Brown prepares innovative, adaptable graduates with the skills to thrive in a rapidly changing job market. With three campuses in the downtown core, the college blends theory with experiential learning, research, and entrepreneurship opportunities. George Brown offers over 200 programs and 182 continuing education certificates/designations across a wide variety of professions to more than 28,500 full-time students and receives more than 53,600 continuing education registrations annually. Students can earn certificates, diplomas, graduate certificates, apprenticeships, and degrees.

Land acknowledgement
George Brown College is located on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and other Indigenous peoples who have lived here over time. We are grateful to share this land as treaty people who learn, work and live in the community with each other.

Website
George Brown College
Sara Vargas Nessi

Instagram
@GBCollege
@SaraVNArt

Facebook
@georgebrowncollege

Twitter
@GBCollege

Accessibility
Wheelchair accessible

Acknowledgement
The artist would like to thank her family for their unconditional support, Ana Rita Morais for her trust, to Gary, Joseph, and Matt for their invaluable help, and to George Brown College for transforming a vision into reality.

Image descriptions:
1. Rendering of the balcony of the School of Design building showing the projections along the inside walls and ceiling.
2. A still image captured from one of the videos shows a close-up of a painting overlayed with shadow silhouettes. The painting is an abstract representation of a landscape.
3. A still image captured from one of the videos shows a close-up of a painting overlayed with shadow silhouettes. The painting is an abstract representation of orchids.