Rafael Villares

Rafael Villares (b. Havana, Cuba, 1989) is an interdisciplinary artist and educator who works across sculpture, photography, drawing, and painting. Through research into the histories of the Natural and Social Sciences, Villares’ practice explores the intersections of art and science in shaping and transforming our perceptions of Nature. He frequently collaborates with scientists, researchers, and practitioners across disciplines to develop projects that challenge established ways of seeing, creating opportunities for audiences to encounter manipulated realities and reconsider their everyday experiences.

His works often invert familiar aspects of the environment at both micro and macro scales. In Iterant Landscape, a large planter with a bench and tree was designed to be moved by crane across different sites, while Topographic Paradox involves melting blue ice replicas of endangered coastlines to generate bathymetric drawings in collaboration with an oceanographic surveyor. Each piece invites viewers to reconsider their relationship to local and global environments.

Villares studied at the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) and earned an MFA from the Yale School of Art. His work has been exhibited widely, including at the 59th Venice Biennale, the XII Havana Biennial, the Vancouver Biennale, the Yale Peabody Museum, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. He has participated in residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and Residency Unlimited, with works held in collections at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA), the Chazen Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

At Michigan State University, Villares joined the College of Arts and Letters in 2024 after being appointed Assistant Professor and Area Head in Sculpture in the Department of Art, Art History, and Design.