Anna Ortiz

Region: Northeast

Website: https://www.annaortiz.com/

City / State: Brooklyn, NY

 Inspired by the archeology of Mesoamerican figures and the landscape of Mexico, my work serves as a reflection on my Mexican American identity. The daughter of a Mexican immigrant, I grew up with one foot in the U.S. and the other south of the border. As a child I spent summers visiting my Mexican family, where I studied with my grandfather, a professional portrait painter, and with my aunt who is an accomplished sculptor. They both encouraged me from a young age to continue the family legacy by pursuing art of my own.

My paintings reference statuary, botanicals, and landscapes I have seen while traveling throughout Mexico. They are devotional offerings to an invented place of belonging; out of the ruins of their previous existence, these new creatures inhabit a borderland between Mexico and the U.S. Their narrative nature references ancient Mesoamerican mythology while reflecting on current and personal events. By playing with spatial compression and a filtered palette, I invite viewers to consider the realities we create for ourselves and the possibilities that lie ahead.