Natalia Vélez Loaiza – Psychoanalytic interlocutor
Natalia Vélez Loaiza, PhD, is substituyen lecturer, a postdoctoral researcher and scientific collaborator in Université catholique de Louvain-La-Neuve. She holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology and literature from the University of Buenos Aires; a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology, Psychopathology and Psychoanalysis from Université Paris Diderot – Paris 7 ( Paris Cité) and postgraduate training in Neuropsychopathology and Clinical Psychology from the University of Oxford. Her clinical training was shaped at Harvard Medical School, the Mauricio Gastón Institute, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (USA), later continuing at the Tavistock and Portman Clinic (London) and in public hospitals and psychiatric institutions in Île-de-France (France). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Boston. Additionally, she completed advanced postgraduate studies in Social Psychology and Gender Studies at the University of Brighton (UK), specialized training in Psychoanalysis from the Institute of Psychoanalysis of London (British Psychoanalytical Society), and in Clinical Psychoanalysis (PIDF-UFORCA) from the École de la Cause Freudienne (Paris). Her research explores psychoanalytic theory, literature, linguistics, and the articulation of subjectivity through writing and artistic practices, with a particular interest in the intersections between psychoanalysis, cultural production, social transformation, and the role of language in the construction of subjectivity.
Natalia Vélez Loaiza, PhD, is substituyen lecturer, a postdoctoral researcher and scientific collaborator in Université catholique de Louvain-La-Neuve. She holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology and literature from the University of Buenos Aires; a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology, Psychopathology and Psychoanalysis from Université Paris Diderot – Paris 7 ( Paris Cité) and postgraduate training in Neuropsychopathology and Clinical Psychology from the University of Oxford. Her clinical training was shaped at Harvard Medical School, the Mauricio Gastón Institute, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (USA), later continuing at the Tavistock and Portman Clinic (London) and in public hospitals and psychiatric institutions in Île-de-France (France). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Boston. Additionally, she completed advanced postgraduate studies in Social Psychology and Gender Studies at the University of Brighton (UK), specialized training in Psychoanalysis from the Institute of Psychoanalysis of London (British Psychoanalytical Society), and in Clinical Psychoanalysis (PIDF-UFORCA) from the École de la Cause Freudienne (Paris). Her research explores psychoanalytic theory, literature, linguistics, and the articulation of subjectivity through writing and artistic practices, with a particular interest in the intersections between psychoanalysis, cultural production, social transformation, and the role of language in the construction of subjectivity.
Photo by Karen Devia
Iván Tovar – Director
Iván Tovar (b. 1987, Cali, Colombia) is an artist and director of Sinthome Residency. He has lived and worked in Bogotá, Buenos Aires, and Amsterdam, and is currently based in New York. His practice unfolds through the interplay of image, language, and conceptual structures, approaching the camera as an instrument for thinking rather than representation alone. His work engages with the instability of meaning, constructing and deconstructing systems of images that question how subjectivity, fiction, and cultural narratives are produced.
Tovar holds a BFA in Fine Arts from the Instituto Departamental de Bellas Artes (Cali) and participated in the Artists’ Program at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (Buenos Aires). He also took part in The Uncertain School at lugar a dudas (Cali), a space with which he maintained a long-term professional and pedagogical relationship.
His work has been presented internationally in solo and group exhibitions, including at Raw Material Company (Dakar), GEMAK (The Hague) and public space interventions such as Fire Fountaine at Torre Colpatria (Bogotá). He has participated in major exhibitions and events including the Boston Public Art Triennial (2025), Torino Foto Festival (2024), SAVY Contemporary (Berlin), Saatchi Gallery (London), Museo La Tertulia (Cali), and the 44 Salón Nacional de Artistas de Colombia.
He has been an artist-in-residence at Raw Material Company (Dakar) and The Hoeksteen Live (Amsterdam), and his work has been supported by awards such as the National Prize of Visual Arts for New Artistic Practices (Honorable Mention, Colombian Ministry of Culture) and the Cultural Management Prize in Visual Arts (Cali).
Alongside his artistic practice, Tovar has developed curatorial and institutional projects, including exhibitions at Museo La Tertulia and public programmes such as Babel Media Art at Torre Colpatria. His curatorial work also includes Fandangos: The Most Important European Art Scandalpaper! (2025) at the Center for Book Arts NYC. He worked for over a decade at lugar a dudas (Cali), where he served as Exhibition Programme Manager and later as International Residency Programme Manager. He has also given lectures and workshops at institutions including Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid), ISCP (New York), Piet Zwart Institute (Rotterdam), and the University of Massachusetts.
Central to his practice is an engagement with psychoanalytic thought, particularly the notion of the sinthome as a singular structure that knots together subjectivity. Within this framework, his work explores how artistic practice can function both as a system of organization and as a rupture within regimes of representation.
As director of Sinthome Residency, Tovar brings together his experience as an artist, curator, and programme manager to develop a platform focused on artistic process, critical dialogue, and the intersection between contemporary practice and psychoanalytic inquiry.
ivantovar.art
Iván Tovar (b. 1987, Cali, Colombia) is an artist and director of Sinthome Residency. He has lived and worked in Bogotá, Buenos Aires, and Amsterdam, and is currently based in New York. His practice unfolds through the interplay of image, language, and conceptual structures, approaching the camera as an instrument for thinking rather than representation alone. His work engages with the instability of meaning, constructing and deconstructing systems of images that question how subjectivity, fiction, and cultural narratives are produced.
Tovar holds a BFA in Fine Arts from the Instituto Departamental de Bellas Artes (Cali) and participated in the Artists’ Program at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (Buenos Aires). He also took part in The Uncertain School at lugar a dudas (Cali), a space with which he maintained a long-term professional and pedagogical relationship.
His work has been presented internationally in solo and group exhibitions, including at Raw Material Company (Dakar), GEMAK (The Hague) and public space interventions such as Fire Fountaine at Torre Colpatria (Bogotá). He has participated in major exhibitions and events including the Boston Public Art Triennial (2025), Torino Foto Festival (2024), SAVY Contemporary (Berlin), Saatchi Gallery (London), Museo La Tertulia (Cali), and the 44 Salón Nacional de Artistas de Colombia.
He has been an artist-in-residence at Raw Material Company (Dakar) and The Hoeksteen Live (Amsterdam), and his work has been supported by awards such as the National Prize of Visual Arts for New Artistic Practices (Honorable Mention, Colombian Ministry of Culture) and the Cultural Management Prize in Visual Arts (Cali).
Alongside his artistic practice, Tovar has developed curatorial and institutional projects, including exhibitions at Museo La Tertulia and public programmes such as Babel Media Art at Torre Colpatria. His curatorial work also includes Fandangos: The Most Important European Art Scandalpaper! (2025) at the Center for Book Arts NYC. He worked for over a decade at lugar a dudas (Cali), where he served as Exhibition Programme Manager and later as International Residency Programme Manager. He has also given lectures and workshops at institutions including Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid), ISCP (New York), Piet Zwart Institute (Rotterdam), and the University of Massachusetts.
Central to his practice is an engagement with psychoanalytic thought, particularly the notion of the sinthome as a singular structure that knots together subjectivity. Within this framework, his work explores how artistic practice can function both as a system of organization and as a rupture within regimes of representation.
As director of Sinthome Residency, Tovar brings together his experience as an artist, curator, and programme manager to develop a platform focused on artistic process, critical dialogue, and the intersection between contemporary practice and psychoanalytic inquiry.
ivantovar.art