Ariamna Contino, born in 1984 in Havana, Cuba, into a family of artists, developed an early affinity for visual expression that led her to formal training at the San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts, where she graduated in 2004 with a specialty in engraving; she further expanded her skills through studies in camera and audiovisual production at the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba in 2006 and a documentary filmmaking program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2007. Emerging amid Cuba's contemporary art scene, Contino's practice centers on the labor-intensive technique of openwork paper—meticulously hand-cut layers evoking engraving traditions—to create monochrome compositions that belie their serene aesthetics with probing investigations into global conflicts, often sourced from media reports, statistics, and interdisciplinary fields like chemistry, anthropology, sociology, biology, geopolitics, and history; her works highlight paradoxes, such as idyllic landscapes that map drug corridors in series like Camino al Eden or Arsenal, depicting weapons from massacres outside formal wars, while recent explorations delve into environmental themes, national identity, and human-nature interstices through representations of hurricanes, ecosystems, and cultural insularity.
Collaborating with artist Alex Hernández Dueñas since 2014, Contino has co-created installations and series that transform raw materials into utopian visions of ecological harmony amid anthropogenic disruption, blending drawing, sculpture, and site-specific elements; their joint efforts gained prominence with representations of Cuba at the Venice Biennale and exhibitions addressing chaos, migration, and cultural matrices. Her solo exhibitions include Manigua at El Apartamento in Madrid, Reverse at Nunu Fine Art in New York, Drift at Habana Gallery in Havana, and Road to Eden as a collateral to the Havana Biennial, while group shows span Cuba Libre at the Ludwig Museum in Koblenz, Painted Diagrams at the Museum of Concrete Art in Ingolstadt, The Cuban Matrix at Torrance Art Museum, and multiple Havana Biennials, where projects like Behind the Wall intervened in public spaces to critique societal barriers; international fairs such as Art Miami, Zona MACO, and Untitled Art Fair have showcased her work alongside residencies and collaborations that foster trans-cultural dialogues.
Contino's accolades affirm her impact, including the Maretti Award at the Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center, Primer Premio at the Post-It 2 contest, and a mention at the Engraving Salon from the Development Center of Visual Arts; she has also contributed to charitable auctions for cancer research organized by the Canadian Embassy in Cuba. Her pieces reside in prestigious collections, such as the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, National Council of Plastic Arts in Cuba, Pérez Art Museum Miami, Jorge Pérez Collection, Ella Cisneros Collection, Gilbert Brownstone Collection in Paris, Robert Funcker New Issenburg Collection in Germany, and Celia Sredni de Birbragher collection in Colombia.
Through her evolving oeuvre, Contino continues to navigate the tensions between aesthetic allure and socio-political urgency, positioning her as a key voice in Latin American contemporary art that interrogates hidden economies, environmental precarity, and the resilience of cultural narratives.