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© Jessica Alazraki

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Jessica Alazraki

New York

Artist Statement

As a Mexican woman living in New York, I feel it is my responsibility to open up a dialogue about immigrants. The figures I show in my pictures convey every-day stories of immigrants living in America, mainly members of the Latinx communities. Bright colors, flat spaces, and empathetically-rendered figures are all visual entryways to the works, often immediately recognizable by Mexican immigrants. The imagery is accessible to a mainstream audience. Narratives remind the viewer of shared experiences with an eye for humanizing a community that is often invisible.

I’m currently working on a series of paintings using colorful tablecloths, a ubiquitous symbol of colorful Mexican folk art. I try to tell a story and setup a particular relational dynamic in each one. Formally, I am compelled to flatten the spaces of my works, using broad swaths of color or patterns,sometimes the tablecloth itself, to bring the viewer closer to the figures.

My goal is to highlight family values and the unifying factor that comes with being together at the table, sharing a meal, or enjoying other activities that go with it. This theme is significant to me because I believe Latinos need to be accepted and understood.

I worked in the advertising field professionally for years,catering to the US Hispanic market, and I was hired to “make the ads look Mexican.” My pictures are a reaction to that ethos: although pictorially flat,the figures nevertheless persist in living entirely social and familiar lives within.

© Jessica Alazraki

Jessica Alazraki's Portfolio

© Jessica Alazraki

Artist Biography

I was born and raised in Mexico City and based in NYC since 1998. I earned a bachelor’s degree in Communications from Universidad Anáhuac, a Diploma in Graphic Design from Parsons School of Design in New York City, a Certificate in Drawing & Painting from The New York Academy of Art and a year studies of the Master’s Degree in Figurative Painting at the New York Academy of Art, New York City.

I have exhibited my paintings in the U.S.A. in three solo exhibitions and over 40 group shows in the US and Mexico.

In 2020 I was awarded by the Queens Art Fund the New Work Grant recipient. I’m currently on the Trestle Art Space Residency and in September 2019, I completed my fellowship seminar ARTWorks Inc. at the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning. In 2019 I was accepted into the Creative Capital N.Y.C. “El taller program,” in collaboration with Hemispheric Institute. And I am currently participating in the 2020 Queens Biennial at York Collage and JCAL.

I received “The Award of Excellence” from Huntington Arts Council. I was given an “Honorable Mention Award” by the Barrett Art Center at the Circle Foundation for the Arts as well as the prize for second place at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition. I received “The Passion Project Award” and the “Artdex Award.”

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© Jessica Alazraki

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