Anna Valdez

Region: Pacific Coast

Website: http://www.annavaldez.com

City / State: Oakland, CA

As a visual artist with an academic background in anthropology and video, I view artists as cultural producers. In my work, I attempt to combine these practices into a specific investigation that cultivates not only personal identity but also cultural meaning.

Currently, I am working on narratives that explore my own practices and history in a visual format. To construct an autobiography, I rely on photographs, stories, family recipes, horticulture, and the tradition of crafting. I consider this examination a rite of passage into a globalized society in which I simultaneously find my niche. Recently, many of my pieces have been still lifes. I compose arrangements from household items such as my clothes, quilts, scarves, blankets, houseplants, drawings, paintings, books, records, and vessels. I represent objects that form my home environment in order to understand the domestic sphere as emblematic of both personal and collective experience.