Rita Vargas:
Holding Ground

The exhibition proposes an encounter with foreign species, subjects of devotion, and imagined souls inhabiting familiar forms. Through textures that evoke both the human body and the sensation of surveillance, the artist explores the experience of being observed while using devotion as a metaphorical connection to the unknown.

Working through materials, images, and installations, Vargas investigates landscapes that appear universal to the human eye, where geographical origins dissolve and associations become fluid. Responding to the growing polarization of contemporary societies, the artist seeks to reconnect realms of existence that are often perceived as separate. Whether a body, an emotion, a landscape, a plant, or a passing thought, these elements coexist and interact within our shared experience of the world.

Holding Ground brings together a selection of works ranging from printmaking and photography to installation. The exhibition is tied to an ongoing inquiry into habitats, territories, and species, both real and imagined. Through these works, Vargas reflects on belonging, identity, surveillance, devotion, and the fragile relationships that connect living beings to the places they inhabit.

Rita Vargas thanks The Finnish Cultural Foundation for supporting her work.

Rita Vargas is a visual artist working across sculpture, installation, printmaking, and photography. Her practice engages with migration and diasporic identity through material metaphors and layered imagery. Drawing on classical iconography, she combines woodcuts, photographic fragments, ceramics, and cork to construct symbolic spaces where personal and collective histories converge. Rooted in Portugal, shaped by Japanese influences, and informed by years in Finland, Vargas creates works that embrace theatricality and fragmentation as forms of resilience and transformation.

Vargas is a Doctor of Philosophy in Art and Culture Studies (Art History) by the University of Jyväskylä (FIN) with the support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). She also holds a BA/MA in Fine Arts (Sculpture) and Art Education by the University of Évora (PT) and Winchester School of Arts (WSA), University of Southampton (UK). 

Vargas accomplished artistic residencies in Japan (2007–2008), in Finland (2009–2010), Portugal and Germany (2010–2019) and Italy (2022-2025). Vargas' artwork is represented by Jyväskylä Artists Association (Galleria Becker), Ratamo Centre for Printmaking and Photography (Galleria Ratamo), Galleria G & Grafoteekki (Helsinki), Galleria Joella (Turku) and Casa das Artes de Tavira (C.A.T), PT. Vargas is also represented in public and private collections in Portugal, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Russia, Japan and Finland. Vargas exhibits regularly since 2003 in solo and group exhibitions in Portugal, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Bulgaria, Germany and Japan. Vargas taught at the University of Jyväskylä, Department of Music, Art and Cultural Studies, courses focused on Art History (History of Performance Art, History of the Print), as well as practiced-based courses on printmaking techniques for the same Department and since 2017 until the present for the Summer University of Jyväskylä in collaboration with Fine Arts University of Lapland.  

Vargas curated exhibitions in Portugal, Sweden and Finland, and was the artistic director of Print Up Gallery (2016), in Jyväskylä. Now, Vargas focuses only on her artistic practice between Grafiikka-ja Valokuvakeskus Ratamo (Jyväskylä) and Helsinki, where she moved (2019). On the same year, Vargas founded a printmaking studio (Vargas Print Studio). Vargas is also a mother.

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