ARTIST STATEMENT
I am interested in exploring the effects modern dating has on the perception of ourselves and the connection we have with our own body. I have been pondering these ideas due to personal experiences leading to a disconnect and a developing reconnection with my own body.
My piece “Reclaim” explores some of the emotions I have felt through this disconnect and reconnect. Those emotions include sadness, anger, acceptance, and peace. I explore that through a collage of private self-portraits taken throughout a span of a year. I paired this photographic collage with printmaking using symbolic marks from matrices that represent these emotions. Although the concept is very personal to me, it’s something that has helped me cope and understand this experience.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Anahi Velazquez Torres was born on January 24th, 1999 in Austin, Texas. She was raised in Cicero, Illinois, and still resides and works around the Chicagoland area. With the digital camera she received as a child, Anahi began a deeply personal photographic journey. She attained a Bachelor’s degree in Studio Art, with a minor in Graphic Design, at Saint Xavier University where she began to experiment with other mediums such as illustration, and printmaking.
Today, she uses self-portrait and conceptual photography to express herself on topics ranging from women’s issues to personal feelings. Gathering inspiration from all paths of life, including her own, her work is intentional and invites the viewer to immerse themselves. Velazquez’s work has been included in Chicago’s Beverly Art Walk 2018-2020, 4D: It’s About Time, And Then: Stories About What Happens Next, at Agitator Co-operative Gallery, Chicago, and Collectively Divided: 2021 Senior Exhibition at Saint Xavier University, Frequinox at Hairpin Arts Center 2021, and Against Da Fence at Project Logan 2021. She received the Humanities Award in the 2020 & 2021 SXU Research Expo.
© Anahi Velazquez Torres