Patricia Cazorla

BIOGRAPHY

Patricia Cazorla is a Latinx queer Venezuelan/American visual artist with a notable career spanning various artistic mediums. She has demonstrated her talent and versatility through works in performance art, video, sound, installation, traditional painting, digital painting, drawing, and printmaking, with a recent emphasis on public art.

Cazorla holds an MFA from Lehman College CUNY, a BA in Visual Arts from SUNY/Empire State College, and additional certificates in drawing, painting, and interactive media from institutions such as The Art Students League of New York and Pratt Institute. Currently, she serves as a Lecturer in the Digital Design Program at Bronx Community College (CUNY). In addition, she is the gallery director of BCC’s Hall of Fame Art Gallery.

Beyond academia, Cazorla has also held roles in art administration, notably as the owner and director of Galería Galou, an artist gallery space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, for over 7 years. For over a decade, she has forged a fruitful collaboration with mixed-media sculptor Nancy Saleme, her aunt. Notable achievements include the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, The Puffin Foundation, UNIQLO/NYC Parks, El Museo del Barrio, and Newark Arts. She has collaborated with entities such as the Garment District Alliance, the NYC Department of Transportation, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 4Corners Public Art, Newark, NJ, NYC Health + Hospitals Arts in Medicine Community Mural Project for Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan. Recent accolades include the Newark Artist Accelerator grant from Project for Empty Space for two consecutive years, 2022 and 2023 (supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Regional Regranting Program), the City of Newark Creative Catalyst Fund Grant for the years 2021 and 2022, and public art commissions from Audible's Newark Artist Collaboration, the City Artist Corps Grant/NYFA, Art Bridge Projects Grant/NYC Cultural Affairs Grant, and 4Corners Public Art Initiatives in Downtown Newark, NJ. Saleme also participated in the 19th Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh in 2022.

Moreover, Cazorla has participated in national and international museum exhibitions, including the Hammond Museum and Stroll Garden, North Salem, NY; El Museo del Barrio’s 4th Biennial / The (S) Files, New York; El Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan; El Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas.

STATEMENT

The curvature of Lehman College Art Gallery's rotunda is the perfect space to hold this site-specific installation that was created with traditional media charcoal on paper, essential elements of artmaking. The chosen media pretends to connect with the millions of migrants that draw a new journey every day, taking with them basic provisions. The subtle lighting mimics the colors of the sunrise and the sunset. It is included to reinforce the sensation of the passing of time—the roundness of the space alludes to a repetitive cycle.

These monumental drawings thrive on opening a dialogue about universal displacement due to political oppression, poverty, religious persecution, natural disasters, and war.