'Monstruo de Agua' Nowness x Lisette Ros in Mexico City (2023)

As part of the research and artwork The Absence of Metamorphosis “Presence in Absence” Piece one (2023), artist Lisette Ros was followed for a short docu by Nowness on her process.

“In Mexico City, performance artist Lisette Ros studies transformation and identity through the atypical existence of the axolotl. For ‘Monstruo de Agua’ we followed her.

Exploring modes of identity that defy definition, Amsterdam-based artist Lisette Ros channels her art through the moldability of her own form. As a conceptual and performance artist, her practice transmutes with her body and concept of self as core research tools, posed in relation to the natural environment, and the complex beings within it.

Traveling to Mexico City, director Laura Martín follows Ros’ research into the axolotl – a biological anomaly that does not metamorphose like others of its kind. Playing with synonyms for the amphibian in relation to herself, the short documentary Monstruo de Agua centers Ros’ deepening understanding of the axolotl as a creature outside of traditional binaries, transforming only as a response to stress and environmental changes in the wild, yet inherently able to exist between two worlds.

Expanding the limits of her practice in parallel with the axolotl’s scientific intricacies, and connection to Aztec spiritualism and mythology, Ros finds new creative freedom through a oneness identified with nature. Documenting her artistic evolution within the landscape integral to its development, Monstruo de Agua captures the context and concepts that feed her approach, unlocking an intimate angle on a unique way of doing research and on performance art that often goes unseen.”

Nowness, December 23, 2024