(he/him) In both my drawing and my writing, I explore the relationship between desire and satisfaction from multiple angles: ‘real’ and ‘unreal’; gritty and aestheticized; the body and memory. I want to challenge the common understanding of desire as absence and to advocate for desire as a unique joy in itself, while also acknowledging its companion emotion of disappointment which comes from desire’s realization. When sensible language fails, drawing and poetry offer a realm where ‘satisfaction’ can be reinterpreted as the creation of negative space which ought to be filled with desire. Those feelings which are so fundamental to humanity—hungering for comfort food, yearning for erotic connection, the vision of building a community which promotes human joy and flourishing—are not pleasure’s absence, but its origin. This is the framework within which my art operates, relishing in the most basic form of being, wanting what you don’t have.

(she/her) Lizeth Hernandez was born in Denver, CO in 1998. The middle child of three, and the only daughter of immigrant parents from Mexico. Being raised in a mid to lower economic status has shaped her and instilled in her a strong work ethic, honesty, and integrity. Lizeth received her Associate Degree in Studio Art, at Community College of Denver in 2018, and her Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from Metropolitan State University in 2021. As an artist, Lizeth employs a variety of mediums and techniques to best integrate the concept or idea she wishes to relay. Her most recent installation done for Museo de Las Americas used cyanotypes, a photographic process as well as specific watercolor integration. She has also created various jewelry pieces that deal with a biographical narrative approach such as culture, physical health, and feminism in relation to her experiences. Lizeth works to educate and inform people from all walks of life through art and dialogue.

(he/him) I was born in 1993 in Peoria, Illinois. I've been working with plastic bags as a textile medium for over a decade. Transforming regular use items from their day to day into material for art brings me peace of mind knowing I can prolong the lifespan of single use plastic. Throughout my time collecting and processing plastic bags I have fallen in love with the material countless times. Falling in love with the colors, qualities, and subtle shades between bags used at the same brands. The nuances of these qualities keeps pushing my practice into new ideas and inspiration to create more pieces with new methods. I’m always eager to receive peoples collection of bags and process them reading the stories the material has to tell.

(he/they) In 1992 Eduardo Vazquez was born in Mexico City, Mexico, to a working-class family who owned a fresh juice shop. During his childhood, the Vazquez family became a target for crime, surviving three separate near-death assaults. The third experience forced Eduardo’s father to immigrate to the US for refuge. A few years later, Eduardo’s mother emigrated with his two-year-old sister. Eduardo rejoined the family two years later, and finally, a year following, his eldest sister would reunite with the rest of the family. Eduardo walked across the Sonora desert at 11 years old to enter the country through Arizona. He grew up in Lake Worth, FL, and since he arrived in 2003, he has endured many challenges living under the shadows as an undocumented individual. Nevertheless, he has taken advantage of every opportunity to pursue and achieve his American Dream. In 2011, he applied for an ITIN to attend cosmetology school, and in 2012 former president U.S. Barack Obama signed an executive order granting DACA which allowed him to get a temporary work permit and practice his trade as a hairstylist. Eduardo also became an athlete and has run marathons across the United States. Regardless of his immigration status, Eduardo has managed to travel enormously around the US, allowing him to follow his biggest passion yet - photography.

(he/him) is a graduate student at NYU. Through his work as a sound artist, photographer, and poet, Xavier’s work explores the function of artistic repetition as a method of world building. Xavier and his work have received awards and critical recognition from Colorado State University, Lyrical Lemonade, the American Institute for Graphic Arts, and others. His multi-hyphenate works take inspiration from poets like Danez Smith or Claudia Rankine; musicians like Frank Ocean and Toro y Moi, and photographers like Andre Wagner and Daniel Arnold.

CO-CURATOR

(she/they) was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. Since she was a child, she has been immersed in the arts. Her film and television debut was at the age of 7, working on commercials and independent films. Nadiya continued her education at the Denver School of the Arts where she was a theater major. During her high school education, she wrote and directed two productions and explored many techniques including improv, Grotowski, Uta Hagen, and Stanislavski. She briefly attended Cornish College of the Arts where she participated in various courses ranging from anthropology, woodwork, metalsmith, and comedy. Her most recent work was directing her original play, Zaryn featured in the Denver Fringe Festival.

CO-CURATOR

(she/her) was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. She is a transdisciplinary artist and art historian whose curatorial approaches center communities that have been historically marginalized. She earned two college degrees, a BA in Art History and a BFA in Photography, from the University of Colorado Denver in 2021, where she was also honored as the outstanding graduate of her class. She has held successful internships at the Colorado Photographic Arts Center and the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. Blackwell is currently curator of the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado’s Social Justice Arts Initiative, a program which uplift the work of Colorado visual and performing artists actively addressing cultural power structures through their creative process. Blackwell lives and works in Denver, Colorado.