In 2017 I started an assemblage project called Lo Que No Sabrías (What You Wouldn’t Know). This work began as an intervention in response to the derogatory and openly racist rhetoric being repeatedly and widely circulated by the previous US president, Republican administration, and conservative media outlets about Mexican immigrants and Mexican-American people.
In response, I decided to show my adoration for my Mexican and Mexican-American ancestors. Expanding or exploding out of these portraits are found and made objects, intricate beadwork, and their personal stories, as I know them. Adding objects to the photos became an act of devotion, love, and connection to my ancestors. Similarly, I made assemblages of myself, dressed in the attire I wore in the 90s and my drag persona. Adorning my portrait was an act of self-love and compassion for my younger self and my artistic self, both of whom continue to heal deep ancestral wounds.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Libby Paloma is an interdisciplinary artist originally from San Francisco, California, and currently based in New York. Paloma’s work has been exhibited at El Museo Del Barrio in New York, NY, Burlington City Arts (BCA), Burlington, VT, SOMArts in San Francisco, SPACE Gallery, Portland, ME, Geary Contemporary, Millerton, NY, and the Dorsky Museum in New Paltz, NY where she received the 2019 Hudson Valley Artist Purchase Award. Paloma has also recently been an Artist-in-Residence at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT, the Wassaic Project in Wassaic, NY, and SPACE Gallery, Portland, ME. Paloma has new sculptural works in two current exhibitions: A Tournament of Lies, The Wassaic Project, on view through September 17, 2022, and More than an object: Contemporary Still Life, Burlington City Arts (BCA), on view through October 8, 2022.