Fine Art Research Unit (FARU) Artist's Talk: Alicia Paz

ARU are delighted to virtually welcome French and Mexican artist Alicia Paz for our 4th artist's talk this trimester. 

Alicia's work is informed by her personal experience and offers a reflection on transcultural representation and identity, particularly that of women. Through her paintings and sculptures, Paz explores cultural hybrids, representations of family, and the complexities of kinship and lineage in a globalised world. Her work often incorporates elements from the applied and decorative arts as a tool for interweaving narratives and exploring notions of displacement and identity. Ornamentation, illusion and materiality feature strongly in her work.

Alicia will speak about her overall practice over several decades, presenting several distinct series, touching upon certain recurring themes, involving long periods spent in different cultural contexts. She will address questions surrounding female representation, intertwining different pictorial languages, the possibilities of approaching painting as an expanded field, the impact of artist residencies upon her work, as well as her taking inspiration from research and historical collections.

Alicia Paz is a painter and sculptor based in London who studied MA Painting at Royal College of Art in 2008 and Postgraduate Diploma Fine Art at Goldsmiths College, London in 2000. Born and raised in Mexico, before living in the US, France and now the UK,  Paz has had several solo exhibitions in the UK, France, Germany, Mexico, and Argentina; Recent exhibitions include a solo exhibition titled “Juntas” at the Maison de l’Amérique Latine in Paris. This project was curated by Lassla Esquivel and Julie Crenn and was generously funded by Fluxus Art Projects and was accompanied by a 52 page catalogue. Paz also recently exhibited at the FRAC Ile de France, Château de Rentilly, as part of the group exhibition Le Cabaret du Néant (2020) and was part of Life Stories, a group exhibition at Chatsworth House, UK, (2021). An Arts Council-funded research and development project culminating in two solo exhibitions in UK institutions took place in 2021, these include Río y Mar (River and Sea) at the Beecroft Gallery in Southend-on-Sea, as part of the regional festival Estuary, as well River Makers as at 20-21 Visual Arts Centre in North Lincolnshire, UK.

Alicia is unable to make it in person, but her talk will be live streamed into Coslett 124 for those who wish to access her talk in person on a larger screen.

Can't join us on campus? Join via Microsoft Teams. 

If you have any questions about this event, please contact: veronique.chance@aru.ac.uk