i_am_another_you you_are_another_me | yo_soy_otro_tú tú_eres_otro_yo

Step Gallery is pleased to present "i_am_another_you you_are_another_me | yo_soy_otro_tú tú_eres_otro_yo," an MFA thesis exhibition by Noemy Esparza-Isaacson.

(In Lak'ech Ala K'in, Hala Ken)

"The work featured in my MFA thesis exhibition is an earnest endeavor and an invitation to engage with issues deeply meaningful to me through a technological lens. I employ technology as an instrument for the creation of meditative, thought-provoking spaces and as a means to separate issues from the initial visceral reaction they might evoke. My sound-based interactive audio works, animations, moving images, and AR/VR worlds initiate provocative questions about humanity's participation in the carnival grotesque, the complex framework of power structures that are directly responsible for creating the breeding ground of trauma and suffering. The U.S.-Mexico borderlands and the Juarez femicides were the backdrop of my childhood and the road from Las Cruces, New Mexico, to the state of Chihuahua, my stomping grounds. I carry in my heart both the beauty and the pain, the love and the loss that emanates from the land and by those from whom I descend. The Maya and the Aztecs looked to mythological deities when faced with challenges and to express gratitude for the bounties of their land. I visited these scarred and sacred lands as part of my research and to explore the roots of my identity. My feet are still planted there. In my performance, inspired by my travels to Uxmal and Chichen Itza, I symbolically summon two Mayan deities, Chac Chel and Ixmucane, through a sonic invocation. The performance also encourages the audience to participate as agents of their own healing. My research-based practice derives from the issues that surrounded my childhood. My Mexican/Yaqui/American heritage and musical background form the foundation for my present exploration into interactive musical performance and media. The sensorial embodiment achieved through the exploration of these issues coupled with my technological framework becomes a humble offering to the victims of trauma and their families." —Noemy Esparza-Isaacson

Exhibition Dates: April 14—23, 2022
Opening Reception: Friday, April 15, 6–9 p.m.
Gallery Hours: Thursday—Saturday, noon—5 p.m.

Image: "the_unusable_chair | la_silla_inusable," 3D model, 2022