Migdalia Salazar - The Mid-Century Material That Refuses to Age
- Jan 28
- 2 min read
Mid-century modern design emerged after World War II with a focus on clarity, structure and experimentation. Architects and designers embraced new materials and explored how light, space and form could interact in everyday environments. Transparency, modularity and geometry became central ideas, shaping everything from furniture to buildings.
One of the materials that defined this period was plexiglass. Lightweight and industrial, it allowed designers to move away from heavy forms and opaque surfaces, introducing lightness and visual openness into interiors and objects. Decades later, that material continues to influence contemporary practice.
Venezuelan artist Migdalia Salazar revisits plexiglass not as a historical reference but as an active tool for perception. Her current body of work, on view at CLAUG Creative Studio in Miami Shores, exists between photography, sculpture and architectural structure.
At first glance, the works appear photographic, composed of color fields and architectural fragments. As viewers move, the images shift. Layers overlap, colors change intensity and light alters the composition. The works respond to movement and viewing angle, refusing to remain static.
Salazar constructs each piece by combining photographic prints with layered acrylic and plexiglass elements. These transparent planes create depth and volume rather than acting as frames. The result is an object that behaves like a structure, changing as light and perspective change.
Her background in civil engineering and architecture informs this approach. Trained across Caracas, Milan, London, Canada and Miami, Salazar treats photography as material rather than documentation. Images are cut, layered and assembled, drawing from constructivist principles and spatial thinking.
Rather than revisiting mid-century modernism as a style, Salazar focuses on its core ideas: geometry, rhythm and transparency. Her work tests how these principles function today, inviting viewers to engage physically with the image and become aware of how perception is shaped.
In a visual culture driven by speed and screens, Salazar’s work encourages a slower experience. Movement, attention and light become part of the image itself.
The work is currently on view at CLAUG Creative Studio in Miami Shores.