KELLY WRITERS HOUSE
Michelle Angela Ortiz
SURVIVING THE ENCOUNTER:
Exploring Movement
and Contradiction
through the Passage
of
Remembrance
ARTIST STATEMENT
I yearned for the knowledge of the past at a very young age. I
understood its importance and influence on my life. This fed my innate
desire to create the images I imagined in my mind into a physical form.
The act of creation eventually led me in a continual journey of
self-reflection.
Throughout my evolution, I have explored the many facets that reflect my
cultural, ancestral, social and spiritual experiences. I began to observe
my family and self in my work. My observations have revealed visions,
gestures and smiles of unfamiliar faces. These multiple images granted an
encounter with the past.
Nostalgia is ever present through these encounters that continue to
contradict or support the present. I attempt to display these experiences,
not for storytelling, but to
record, document, educate and present truth.
It is through my work that I continue to explore the various perspectives
that mirror the
intricacies of my being.
I strive to create work that communicates a
consistency in theme and personal meaning.
I create to recall a past that I have heard of but not seen.
I create to document my struggles, triumphs, observations and changes. I
create to survive the dissipation upon my existence.
—Michelle Angela Ortiz
Michelle Angela Ortiz, a graduate of Moore College of Art &
Design, explores the Latin American and Caribbean cultures and their
relationship to a North American locale. Creating works in various media,
Ortiz probes issues of otherness, misplacement, and uncertainty about
identity that continue to perform a significant role in a North American
discourse. For the past five years Ortiz has worked with nonprofit
organizations Taller Puertorriqueno, Network Arts, Mural Arts Program,
Congreso, Art for Change, and AMLA. Ortiz has also created over fifteen
large-scale murals and mosaics in Philadelphia, Camden and Ecuador.
Previous exhibition venues include The Painted Bride, Fox Gallery, Stedman
Gallery, Goldey Paley Gallery, and Art Forms Gallery. Ortiz is also
serving as current co-president of the Philadelphia chapter, Women's
Caucus for the Arts.
Art is a record of time and existence. It represents a thought,
culture, society and history. I have always encountered myself in a
constant cycle of observing and documenting. Hearing stories in my kitchen
with my mother and grandmother influenced my creative spirit as a child. I
would try to visualize every spoken word to a scent, color, texture and
space. In my mind I created a picture of reference. I was desperately
curious to see where the stories I heard took place. Who were the
characters involved? Were they how I imagined them to be?