Lara Alcantara Lansberg is a Venezuelan-American multidisciplinary artist and award-winning photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. With an MFA from Bard College/ICP, her work fuses conceptual photography, performance, and narrative, creating powerful visual statements centered on identity, transformation, and femininity. Drawing from her Latin American heritage and her background in theater, Lara’s work is known for its rich symbolism, surreal compositions, and emotional resonance.

Her photography has garnered international acclaim, receiving honors such as the Julia Margaret Cameron Gala Award, the Budapest International Foto Awards (BIFA), and the Hispanic American Award for Photography. Her pieces are included in notable private and institutional collections, including those of Lady Gaga, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Venezuela, and the IESA institution in Caracas.

Lara is currently featured in Surprise at the Lehman College Art Gallery for the second time, exhibiting alongside icons such as Irving Penn, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Andy Warhol, William Wegman, and Keith Haring. Her previous exhibitions include prestigious Chelsea galleries like Nohra Haime Gallery on 22nd Street and Generous Miracles Gallery.

Her reach extends beyond the fine art world into luxury and editorial spaces. She recently completed a major rebranding campaign for the legendary French luxury house Baccarat, which will roll out over the year. Her work was featured on Baccarat’s website as part of their spotlight on emerging visionary artists, where her whimsical, cinematic imagery captured the spirit of crystal as a magical and transformative element.

Lara’s creative voice has also been featured in publications such as Vogue México, Elle España, and Ocean Drive, and she led a conceptual photography campaign for singer Lana Love, in collaboration with the Times Square Alliance.

Her ability to craft stories through visual metaphors has positioned her as a distinctive and sought-after artist whose work resonates deeply with both collectors and brands. Whether through fine art, editorial, or luxury collaborations, Lara Alcantara Lansberg’s photography invites viewers to pause, reflect, and feel—bridging the intimate and the iconic in every frame.

Artist Statement

The Beautiful Weight of Being
Series March 2025

The Beautiful Weight of Being is a visual meditation on the paradox of stillness in a world built for speed. Through veiled, anonymous figures wrapped in bold fabric, rooted, unmoving, and silent, this series explores the radical act of presence: of staying, of holding, of simply being.

In the first image, the figure clutches a bouquet of balloons—symbols of fleeting joy and celebration—while standing still against the vast openness of sea and sky. The playground nearby hums with nostalgia, childhood, and memory. The contrast is intentional: while the world suggests movement, play, and upward lift, the figure chooses grounding. They don’t perform. They hold space. They resist.

In the second image, the same figure appears at the edge of a jetty, facing the infinite horizon. A suitcase rests beside them, closed, yet full of implication. Are they leaving? Arriving? Remembering? The sea rises and recedes, echoing the eternal rhythm of becoming. This is not exile. It is a ritual. A reckoning. A reverent stillness at the threshold between who we were and who we might be.

The fabric enveloping the figures transcends its physicality; it becomes an emotion, a second skin woven from memory, identity, and transformation. As it blends into the landscape, the fabric mirrors the complexity of our inner worlds—sometimes vibrant, sometimes subdued—reflecting how our personal narratives are interlaced with the environments we inhabit. This interplay emphasizes the emotional resonance of textiles, which, as noted in discussions on textile art, can "evoke emotions, stimulate the senses, and even affect our mental health."

Inspired by Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being, the series engages the tension between lightness and weight, between the freedom of detachment and the gravity of experience. The works ask: Can we carry our history without being defined by it? Can we remain still and be enough? Can contemplation be a form of movement?

These images are an invitation: to slow down, to listen inward, and to embrace the sacred weight of simply existing.

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