Judith Modrak

Residencias Situadas Program | May 2026

“Fluid Pathways”

The site-specific installation Fluid Pathways is a reflection on the earth’s internal composition (inner core, outer core, mantle and crust) and how that is mirrored in our neural and cellular constitution. The project, inspired by the topography of the Ricote Valley, contemplates the hidden, often overlooked layers within ourselves, and how those are connected to the natural environment in which we inhabit. These two sides taken together aim to understand how our personal and collective experiences develop. The final sculpture will manifest as a large (20’x10′) biomorphic shape filled with hundreds of organic and anthropomorphic forms, sculpted in limestone and then painted. Fluid Pathways will ultimately spring from the terrain and streets of Blanca as an ode and offering to Mother Earth.

For this Open Studios, Judith presents the skeleton of her work in the ideation and conceptualisation process. During the month she has become fascinated with the material of the wire she uses, which transcends its utilitarian function of creating and maintaining form and becomes in its own right fascinating as a material which connects and intermeshes with itself and its environment

BIO 

Judith Modrak, b. Washington, D.C., is a sculptor based in New York City. The forms and concepts her work bridge art and science by exploring scientific advances that increase our understanding of psychological and neurological landscapes, including the nature of memory, brain physiology, and the mechanics of sensory experiences. Modrak’s objective is to translate these esoteric and often intangible concepts into three-dimensional, anthropomorphic forms. These human and tree-like sculptures embody psychological and emotional states, often mirroring their beholders with a pronounced expression or bodily gesture.

The great neuroscientist Santiago Ramon y Cajal once described the human brain as “a world consisting of a number of unexplored continents and great stretches of unknown territory.” Modrak returns to this notion again and again, ferreting out what these hidden parts of ourselves look like and what they tell us about our internal composition and one another. The interior landscapes of the brain and the complexity of human interaction, along with the natural world in which we habit, drive her visual investigations.

Based in New York, she exhibits all over the USA and her work has been featured and reviewed in various art, science and news media. Among the awards she has received, recently the documentary featuring her work: Our Memories — Memories Recorded, Memories Stored, won Best Science and Education Documentary at the Madrid International Film Festival and Best Short Documentary at the Amsterdam International Film Festival in 2018

This residency and project was made possible in part by a Lucy Alexander Willow Grant.