The Art & Films of Mabel Valdiviezo
Mixed Media Painting
I make art to heal my soul, mind, and body from the trials of life and history. My work with self-portraiture and family portraits conveys a personal narrative about racialized undocumented immigrants. Painting with watercolors and acrylics over archival photos, I depict my lived experience of family separation and the yearning for reunification with my family and Peruvian culture. Intimate in execution, these pieces mirror the ubiquitous plight of immigrants across contested borderlands. I utilize a vibrant color palette with uplifting emotion and an overall unified balance, reclaiming self-representation and authorship to anchor these paintings as vehicles for transformative art and cultural healing within the Latinx community. These works honor intergenerational storytelling and provide the viewer with a sense of the resilience and courage that immigrants carry despite the social forces that pull them apart.