Frank Vega (b. 1992, Ecuador) is an artist working across sculpture, painting, and hybrid objects. His practice explores the intersections of materiality, cultural traditions, and everyday technologies, using diverse surfaces and forms to construct dynamic ecosystems. Through a hands-on approach to materials, Vega investigates how objects and structures shape collective experience, embedding fluidity and transformation into his compositions.

He received his Master of Fine Arts in 2022 from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2018 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has exhibited at the Hyde Park Art Center (Chicago), North Park University (Chicago), Devening Projects (Chicago), MDW Fair at Mana Contemporary (Chicago), El Lobi (Puerto Rico), The Green Gallery (Milwaukee), Koik Contemporary (Mexico City), and the Krannert Art Museum (Champaign). He has been awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Frankenthaler Scholarship from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Florence M. House Scholarship, and the Helen E. Platt Blake Scholarship from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as a Leroy Neiman Fellowship from the Ox-Bow School of Art.

Statement

Through different presentational strategies of object and space, I craft narratives that question collective perceptions of presence, meaning, and belonging. My work spans diverse modes of operation to reconfigure established value systems as spaces of renewable potential, memory, and care. Incorporating ephemeral elements in my work expands the notion of cultural preservation, 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—liberating it from its original function to reveal new possibilities.

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