March 2021 Unicorn Of The Month: Aida Lizalde

I saw Vessel Fountain months ago at Axis Gallery in Sacramento CA with the intention of doing a post here specifically on the exhibition. But then I just wasn't in the correct head space to write. I am a terrible friend. 

I am still not at 100%, but her works needs to be talked about, plus she has this incredible show, entitled

"Fragmentos" at Sierra Nevada University until March 26. 

Hand made paper quilts are part of her Overwhelming Ground Series.

"I’m a multi-media artist and Mexican Immigrant living in California. My family migrated here shortly before the recession of 2007 and I’ve had to navigate assimilation to the United States, in a period of extreme social and environmental shifts. I experienced the difficulties of the immigration system to obtain a legal status and the nuances of understanding my identity as a malleable, geographically, and legally dependent concept. All these experiences have shaped the way I make artwork and my research and focus on power structures, mestizaje and identity, the American ethos, language, and de-colonial theory."

ID Tabla is made out of cyanotype versions of passport style photos used throughout the immigration
process the artist had to go complete to become a naturalized citizen of the United States of America.

The work also includes red ceramic chips to imply the immigration system's similarity with a gambling game of lottery.

"I use construction materials, ceramics, textiles, paper and video to convey questions about these themes while also focusing on material qualities, process, and symbolism." 

Ajena is a series of ongoing outdoor installations that started while in residency at the
Vermont Studio Center in 2017 and continued in California until the present. 

This series deals with creating arbitrary geographical borders within a landscape that is open and vast and can't quite be divided. Ajena is about the idea
of frontiers, belonging, and the process of assimilation, ownership, and identity.

Aida is a graduate from the University of California, Davis with a Bachelor of Arts in Studio arts and a Minor in Art History. Her work has been exhibited throughout California at institutions like the CCA Galleries, Chandra Cerrito Contemporary, Southern Exposure, South of Market Art Center, the Torrance Museum among others. She is currently a member of Axis Gallery in Sacramento and has been a recipient of various awards including the Vermont Studio Center Fellowship, The Young Space Grant, the Crocker Kingsley Award and the Herb Alpert Scholarship for Emerging Young Artists. To view more of her work, visit her Website and her Instagram Page.