Frank Vega (b. 1992, Ecuador) is an interdisciplinary artist working across sculpture, painting, sound, and installation. His practice examines the material and symbolic value of everyday objects through Desencanto—a process of deconstruction and reconfiguration that challenges systems of utility and value. By stripping objects of their original function and activating them through sound, movement, and collaboration, Vega opens new possibilities for meaning, sustainability, and co-creation. His work explores how materials absorb collective memory and cultural identity, transforming them into dynamic, living ecosystems.

For Vega, each element is a fragment—an Unidad (Unit)—where individual parts come together to form a greater whole, a space of belonging. Merging tradition with experimental approaches, Vega redefines how audiences engage with materiality and collective experience, forging new relationships between objects, histories, and communal narratives.

Vega has exhibited at No Lugar (Ecuador), Hyde Park Art Center (Chicago), Devening Projects (Chicago), MDW Fair at Mana Contemporary (Chicago), Koik Contemporary (Mexico City), The Green Gallery (Milwaukee), and El Lobi (Puerto Rico), among others. He has been awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as the Frankenthaler Scholarship, the Florence M. House Scholarship, and the Leroy Neiman Fellowship from Ox-Bow School of Art.

Statement

Through various presentational strategies that explore the relationship between objects and space, I craft narratives that challenge collective perceptions of presence, meaning, and belonging. My work spans diverse modes of operation to reconfigure established value systems, transforming them into spaces of renewable potential, memory, and care. By incorporating ephemeral materials alongside industrial elements, I hope to amplify notions of cultural preservation while embracing the inevitability of change.

At the core of my practice lies the concept of Desencanto—a process that questions traditional notions of value and utility, emphasizing sustainability and innovation within the urban context. For an object to undergo Desencanto, it must first be broken, disassembled, or flipped, thereby liberating it from its original function and revealing new possibilities.

Through this practice, I aim to reimagine the value systems that shape our daily interactions.