At the core of the lab is Odette da Silva—a Venezuelan poet, researcher, and educator based in Helsinki.
Through over a decade in exile, living in the Netherlands and Finland, Odette has developed a poetic voice that blurs the line between strangeness and intimacy, belonging and isolation. She is the author of three books of poetry: Escandinavia y otros destinos, Contra el viento del norte, and Poemasbajos / Netherpoems. Her work has been featured in anthologies such as Poemas en bicicleta, El puente es la palabra, and Mínima expresión; and it has been recognized with the Monte Ávila Prize for emerging authors, and the Eugenio Montejo Honorable Mention.
Odette has a background in aesthetics and the arts, which she has taught at the Central University of Venezuela and Åbo Akademi University, Finland. She holds a Doctoral degree from Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, where she examined efficiency as a principle of beauty in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, UK. Her research has been published in the International Journal of Design, Design Issues, and Empirical Studies of the Arts; and it has been granted the Robert Francès Award by the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics.