Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalia Chavarria.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I think everyone has a story. Mine is similar to that of many living in South Florida and in this country. I was born in Mexico City and moved to South Florida when I was four. I have lived here ever since and I consider this my home. I carry with me my heritage and have adopted many identities. I am American, I am Mexican, and I am Hispanic. I have lived through moments of prosperity as well as episodes of misfortune. I know what it is to be loved as much as I know how fortunate it is to feel pain. My story is very much made up of those who have been a part of it. The experiences I have lived through have shaped me into the person I am and inevitably influence my art and what I create. My story is one that is shared and common, and I find it beautiful to be a part of something as unifying as shared experiences. I grew up and live in a mixture of ideas, languages, faces, food, and stories that have given me a rich background and the resources to continue exploring my identity and the different worlds and stories that surround us all.
Please tell us about your art.
I believe that like many artists, and people in general, I have the urge to create. My work begins with something I have in mind, a concept I’m interested in exploring or expressing and ranges in medium, style, and process. I work with digital media, drawing, painting, and video and I am interested in continuing to explore different disciplines such as performance and installation. The message I try to express is different from project to project. For a GIF series, I wanted to explore the relationship my generation has with personal computers and the Internet. After interviewing my subjects, I created portraits of the individual with their computers, whether it was a laptop, a phone, or a desktop. I depicted the portraits through a GIF, an art form born through the Internet. In painting, I’m working on a series called Grim Leisure through which I want to comment on the darker side of modern paradise, the guilt and expense of leisure and the ways in which Miami embodies these ideas. Along with a writer, we are creating a graphic novel with a porn star as a protagonist to express our distaste with the current porn industry while proposing a new voice and direction. Although meaning varies greatly throughout my work, I think that it ultimately deals with identity. Identity is unique from person to person, community to community, and so forth. However, as the world becomes more connected so do we. The conflict between embracing our identity while also celebrating aspects that unite us interests me. Through my work, I hope people can see a part of themselves and also the similarities between us in an attempt to both celebrate and unite.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
Some of the challenges that artists face today are the same that modern artists have faced for some time now. These include financial and public support. I also think that there are several outlets, tools, and resources that make it easier for artists to showcase themselves and that allow artists to manage themselves. In the same way that these resources are helpful I think that they can also be a challenge. Personally, the biggest challenge I have faced involves public support. As an artist you know you will face financial hardship but it feels like people constantly remind one that they don’t consider it a valid career. Art is for people, so public support in all its forms is important and as such is the biggest challenge facing artists today. I think artists should work towards extending the ways people come in contact with art, how to make art reach people, and how to ultimately increase public support.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I am currently working on a website where I will have all my work available for viewing. At the moment however, I only have an Instagram account for my work and another that is an ongoing project. In the meantime, anyone can support by attending shows, events, or exhibitions where my work will be on display.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 954-526-7416
- Email: zisforzeus@gmail.com
- Instagram: @zisforzeus, @cyberbyter
Image Credit:
The picture of me was shot by Carlos Americo Fernandez.
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