Suzy González is an artist, curator, zinester, educator, and community organizer based in San Antonio, TX. Giving attention to the origins of both food and art materials, she analyzes what it means to decolonize art and art history. She has an upcoming solo exhibition at Clamp Light in San Antonio Texas November 2020. She has had recent solo exhibits at Presa House Gallery, Hello Studio, Palo Alto College, and a two-person exhibit with Eliseo Casiano at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi. She has attended residencies at Vermont Studio Center (VT), the Trelex Residency (Peru), The Wassaic Residency (NY), Starry Night Residency (NM), the Studios at MASS MoCA (MA), and Hello Studio (TX). Suzy co-publishes Yes, Ma’am zine, co-organizes the San Anto Zine Fest, and is half of the collective Dos Mestizx, which recently curated two iterations of the exhibition, XicanX: New Visions. She received a 2017 National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) Fund for the Arts Grant, is a 2018 alum of the NALAC Leadership Institute, and a 2019 alum of the Intercultural Leadership Institute and NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program. Suzy holds an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and a BFA from Texas State University.
Artist Statement
Giving attention to the origins of both food and art, I analyze what it means to decolonize art, art history, and consumption. Through a Xicanx veganism, I find interest in the decolonization of one’s diet, or a desire to reclaim the pre-colonial plant-based nourishment of my ancestors. In embodying a neo-Mestiza/Xicana identity, I also recognize where my art materials originate. While acrylic paints have Mexican origins, oil paints have European origins, and materials like the corn husk have Indigenous origins. I relate each material to a part of my identity, and recognize when they stay separate or are mixed. Through painting, sculpture, and mixed media works, I create figures that exist somewhere in the middle of social binaries. My artwork serves as a platform for working through my own intersections as well as striving for an intercultural conversation with folks outside of my identity labels. This, I hope, will open doors to compassion and healing in this world of destruction.
Sample Work
