- Featured Artist
Also reflecting themes of representation, performativity, and interpretation—but in art—this issue features the artwork of Patricia Cazorla, a Latinx Queer Venezuelan-American interdisciplinary visual artist. Cazorla holds a B.A. in Visual Arts from SUNY (State University of New York) Empire State College and an M.F.A. in Painting from Lehman College, CUNY (City University of New York). She currently serves as a Lecturer at Bronx Community College, CUNY. Cazorla’s work spans performance, video, installation, sound, painting, drawing, and printmaking. Through a personal lens, her recent work opens dialogues about universal displacement caused by political oppression, poverty, religious persecution, natural disasters, and war (Cazorla, 2020).
Cazorla has exhibited her work nationally and internationally, including at the Hammond Museum and Stroll Garden (North Salem, NY); El Museo del Barrio’s 4th Biennial/The (S) Files (New York); El Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico (San Juan); and El Museo de Bellas Artes (Caracas). Her work has been reviewed in ArtDaily, Time Out New York, El Diario La Prensa, NY Arts Magazine, Arte Al Día, El Nacional, El Universal, CNN México, New York Daily News, and Art Nexus (ArtDaily, 2020; CNN México, 2020).
In 2010, Cazorla began an extensive collaboration with artist Nancy Saleme. https://cazorlaandsaleme.com/ From concept to execution, the duo creates works that focus on immigration issues, equality, and identity. This collaboration has resulted in award-winning exhibitions, commissions, residencies, and grants in the United States and abroad. Last spring, Cazorla and Saleme inaugurated their first sculptural and environmental installation as part of the Newark Artist Collaboration by AUDIBLE (Newark Artist Collaboration, 2023).
The cover of this issue features one of Cazorla’s most recent series, Are We Ready to Fly? (2020–2023). Reflecting on the inspiration behind the work, Cazorla shares:
This series of paintings on wood panels is based on photographs taken during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown—a time when nature came closer to us as the bustling city of New York fell silent. The photographs, taken while waiting at a city ferry station, capture seagulls walking on a translucent ceiling. This unusual sight brought feelings of comfort and wonder, as we observed their funny little feet dancing above us.
For over twenty years, the intersection of urban life and nature has been a recurring motif in my work. During the pandemic, the translucent screen became a more prominent element, symbolizing the veil that separated us—face masks, plastic screens, and plexiglass barriers became ubiquitous in public settings.
Three years later, my first trip on a ferry post-pandemic feels distant, yet the uncertainty it brought remains. Climate change continues to cause severe weather patterns. Nature is suffering, and we, too, feel the consequences. Once again, I find myself asking: Are We Ready to Fly?