SPOTLIGHT:

Interviewer: How would you describe what your work is about?

Sofia: My work explores the intersections of mexicanidad and queerness, identities that are often considered at odds, but I believe they have more similarities than differences. Often growing up in a religious Latino household, you feel as though your identity as a queer person is wrong or shameful, that your desires are to be ignored. After I left my childhood home and moved to New York, I was able to freely explore how my Mexicanness and my queerness historically have overlapped more than I was led to believe. I make work that shows these dichotomies as a form of ancestral healing. For my thesis, I am working on a series of nichos (ex votos) that exemplify these motifs through painting and sculpture. 

Interviewer: Do you think your Mexican roots are the main reason you want to explore those themes?

Sofia: Yes, I am extraordinarily inspired by my culture. I have spent years piecing together Pre-Hispanic art, design and fashion history, as well as contemporary Latin American art history. I feel so connected to my culture and its history and my work is just extensions of these feelings. 

Interviewer: You mentioned the small scale that you are experimenting with. What do you think makes small paintings the best medium for you to explore those themes that you mentioned as opposed to other mediums?

Sofia: I love to paint small. At first it was mainly because my apartment is so small that I couldn’t physically paint bigger, but once I started painting my female nude series, someone mentioned that the scale made my paintings even more feminine. I absolutely loved that observation and stuck with that idea. Plus, nichos are notoriously small and ornate, so the small scale really suits all my ideas. 

Interviewer: Is it ritualistic for you to paint?

Sofia: Once I start, I absolutely cannot stop painting. The difficulty lies in the set up. Creating work from your bedroom can get really frustrating when you want to just leave paint and brushes everywhere, but you also have to maintain your sanity within your small space. Once I start a painting, it will probably finished by the end of the day and I will just completely zone out. 

Interviewer: Is there anything about yourself you've learned through your practice as it's evolved over time? Is there anything it reflects back to you?

Sofia: Definitely. I think I learn something new about myself everytime I put paint to panel. When I was doing self portraits, I was learning a lot about my face and the way I like to be perceived. When I was painting nudes, I was appreciating my body and friend’s bodies so much more. This new series is really showing me all this beauty in something I used to view as painful and opposite. 

Interviewer: Has digital technology changed your process at all or is it something that's just supplementary?

Sofia: I use the computer all the time. I am a gallery assistant and graphic designer as my day job and I am constantly using my creative brain on the computer. For my thesis, I also need to design all my nicho frames on the computer so I can laser cut them. I grew up alongside the computer, so for me the computer is almost essential to my practice for either research or design purposes. 

Interviewer: What music do you like to have on in the background as you work?

Sofia: I either listen to the saddest Mexican ballads you’ve ever heard like Los Panchos, La Santa Cecilia or Los Tres Caballeros to really get me in the mood, or the complete opposite and I will jam out to Disco’s biggest hits. I love Disco more than anything. 

Interviewer: It’s been an intense year with the pandemic. What's it been like for you to go back to school and be in that environment?

Sofia: I think re-entering school has been extremely difficult as a 5th year after not being on campus since 2019 because I did my study abroad in Florence, Italy in the Spring of 2020. It has been a big adjustment for me, and I am definitely not adjusted yet. I have been working in-person since July 2020, but school requires a different kind of social energy that I seem to have forgotten. It also requires homework, which as my therapist says, is really my kryptonite. I cannot seem to get along with the concept of homework and this has always been a major struggle for me. Balancing in-person school, homework, in-person work, a social life and a business life has been a strange and tiresome adjustment. It’s a work in progress.  

Interviewer: I feel like quarantine was a time of reflection for a lot of people. Now that we've somewhat come out the other side, what are you excited to do more of?

Sofia: I really just can’t wait to see even more drag and even more art. I think quarantine allowed me to explore some of the artistic and design practices that I had been wanting to try, like more complicated styles of Peyote beading, book design and publishing, and curation. Now that things are open again, I just can’t wait to see more art and drag in person rather than through a screen. 

Interviewer: What is particularly hard to do as an artist or as a creative person putting your work out there?

Sofia: I think the hardest part of putting my work out there is the explanation. My work is so deeply personal and a true act of healing for me, and I often get shy or slightly embarrassed when talking about it. I am much more accustomed to speaking about these ideas than let's say six months ago, but it is definitely hard to put your feelings out on display in such a visual way. But exposing my emotions like this is exactly what the work is about and how I feel it’s best to process the feelings. 

Interviewer: Is that sort of embarrassment, in work and life, something you feel you've grown out of over time? Or perhaps you're able to push through it differently?

Sofia: I used to get embarrassed over everything when I was younger. The feeling of your cheeks flushing red and your face getting hot was so uncomfortable for me, especially because I am such an outgoing and loud person. I put myself out there all the time, I love to be the center of attention or at least the class clown. Expressing emotions has always been what I get most embarrassed about, and my work has really helped me battle this. Embarrassment is learned, and unlearning it is difficult, but that is exactly that painting does for me. My paintings speak a language that I sometimes cannot articulate. 

Interviewer: Do you have anything that you collect that really means a lot to you?

Sofia: I collect postcards, both from places I’ve been and vintage postcards. I probably have over 200. Many of them are hung up on my bedroom wall, and I can’t wait to have a larger space so I can put more up one day. Some of the postcards are really sentimental to me, some I’ve had since I was 9, some were gifts, some were made by friends, some remind me of my travels and others remind me of people I love. They are almost like nichos to me. 

Interviewer: What do you tend to notice when you enter a new space?

Sofia: The cleanliness if I am honest. I cannot stand to be in a messy or dirty space. I also look at the layout and design. 

Interviewer: Are you passionate about interiors and design? 

Sofia: Oh yes definitely. Both my parents are architects and I was basically trained since birth in the art of design and interior architecture. When I was little, I thought I wanted to be an interior designer, and I still love it. 

Interviewer: Is there anything in life you'd want a redo of?

Sofia: I would never want to live this experience twice because I am barely making it through the first time, but I would “redo” my major and major with Fine Arts. 

Interviewer: What is something you wish you were asked more often?

Sofia: I wish people asked me more about Latin American art and design history. I have years and years of academic research under my belt and no one cares about it or wants to learn more. I can tell you about every artist movement and historical event in Latin America dating back to 1325 CE! Please ask me!