Despite being only 30 years old, photographer Carolina Pimenta has accumulated extensive experience acquired in different countries. Born and raised in Porto in a family passionate about art, Pimenta lived in the ‘city of bridges’ until she was 18 years old, when she went to Lisbon for a year to take courses in photography and painting. She went on to the University of Leeds, where she studied photography, design, video and animation. At the same time, she started working for a Brazilian art gallery and went to Art Basel to make her sales. Later she swapped Leeds for London, where she completed an internship with photographer Mario Testino. However, tired of the British weather and looking for a change of scenery, she crossed the Atlantic and landed in New York, where she worked for almost four years in video production. She explains that the experience was not entirely positive, "I worked very hard on something that really did not satisfy me and that had made me give up my own work almost completely. It was then that I decided to leave New York and travel for a time.”
After this period of reflection, and discovering different countries, Pimenta arrived in Lisbon, where she has now been for four years. Since then she has been working 100% on developing her work as an artist. “I had no intention of staying in Lisbon for a long time, however, I see that it has undergone many changes in recent years. It is really booming and you can perceive a fantastic cultural environment, just like in the rest of Portugal. It is interesting and motivating to be in a city that is growing so much.” Pimenta's artistic work is “difficult to define because it is still developing.” But she does recognize that is has two key aspects: one, the exploration and introspection on her own body, and the investigation into new territories and social interaction. “I address issues such as our role within our culture and relationships among youth, the effects of technology, and changes in our social dynamics.” Some of the artists who have influenced her work include Nan Goldin, Helena Almeida, Francesca Woodman and Miguel Rio Branco. On 15 September, Pimenta will be taking part in Exquisito, a festival that combines visual arts, performances, music and talks, held in Telheiras (Lisbon). On the same day, she will also be exhibiting for the first time at Gaivotas 6 (Lisbon), to showcase the results of ONE SHOT, a piece she completed in March. Alongside this, Pimenta is working on several projects that will be shown primarily in Portugal in 2019.
