CPS All-City Visual Arts Exhibitions

Teacher: Jess Wyss
Materials: Digital Media
Dimensions: 24 in  × 36 in
Artist Statement: My Mexican heritage connects me to older ancestral forms of magic and spiritual beliefs. My practice is a process of decolonizing interconnected with mortality. However, I choose not to make my art outright political or have a direct connection to Mexican/Aztec beliefs, as it is not true to the ways I have personally decolonized my beliefs in the year 2021.

Within my piece selection, I create an intimate relationship with the viewer and myself by having multiple self-portraits that directly gaze into the viewer. Such as my piece “Deconstruction,” displaying the decaying process of a version of myself that no longer serves my growth. Each piece is made after a 30- 40 minute meditation session to provide optimal flow, as well as utilizing thoughts and images seen during the meditation session. My piece “Ego Death” was created after an intensive hour-long meditation with the focus of accepting that I am part of the universe and not just a physical presence; I am not meant to understand everything but I can accept it and move forward with love and gratitude for that immensity. The concept of mortality in itself holds a physical connection to us, our body being the display of time. Continually making self-portraits has become a core practice as I am encouraging a state of introspection that therefore reflects onto my ways of living and creating. Much of the fear revolving around death and what
lies beyond it make a direct connection to the colonization of belief systems.
As a Hispanic and trans individual, I am making myself highly visible and vulnerable, detaching from the ideologies set upon me by white conquistadores. I chose to focus greatly on color selection and the direction of the figure’s eye, one of the most evident and visual ways to pull in attention. Utilizing such a bright color scheme accompanied by stars, glitter, and evident mark-making changes the perception of living and the inevitable death we collectively face. A large part of these intentions is tied to my experience within the “”School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s CAAP (College Arts Access Program), a competitive three-year college bridge program for Chicago Public School students. The exposure to contemporary thinking and ways of making continually propel me further and bolder. I plan to continue making work with a bright and bold color scheme, as well as the visuals of galactic connections; I find it crucial to continue exploring within figures and beyond. My art will most likely outlive my physical form, but if it can be the catalyst to decolonizing and expressing love for mortality then I am then eternal within the wave of time.

Description: After a life of dishonesty and trauma, how does one open themselves to affection again? This piece focuses on the initial fear experienced as a trauma response to affection but the overwhelming want and familiarity alongside it.