Grand Central Bakery – Burien, WA for the month of February, 2023
Collaboration with my partner of 14 years Danny Mansmith.
Below are just some of the pieces which are available for purchase at: http://dannyalexisshop.bigcartel.com
*all the bowls are food safe
Negative Capability:The Artist as Healer
A group showing of portraits. Curated by Saundra Fleming.
Gallery110 in Seattle’s Pioneer Square
Opening: January 5, 2023 12-8pm
Reception with Performance: January 6 4-6pm
Panel Discussion: January 8 1-3pm
FEATURED INSTALLATION BY ALEXIS ORTIZ – TITLED “CATHARSISISM”
I decided to go beyond the “visage basique” and represent me via a timeline in 3D
Past– The Chair is a nod to my religious upbringing, the FancyHares my childhood
Present– The Plates depict my physical attributes that I may have issues with
Future– The Eyes are an advantage dear viewer
MY BROTHER AND I
ONE of FIVE Newer. Bigger. Browner. Wider. Opened eyes like Sentinels now and from this new series of Vantage Points let our minds wander around the matter at hand. HEALING
DETAIL OF “MY EXISTENTIAL PROBLEM AREAS”
Regarding Negative Capability here are words Saundra and Gallery110 chose to describe:
“Fleming’s focus on negative capability comes from her view of the common thread within the shaman and the artist. Working through destabilizing darkness is similar to a shaman’s state of mind when going into a trance in order to heal or predict for their community. This is akin to the visionary searching of poets, mystics, or artists who heal or predict for their community.
From the inspiration she has found through portraits, Fleming’s existential reality is lifted up. She mentions, “I almost feel as if I am being held”.”
Full disclosure, the show was originally pitched as a Self-Portrait show and the title “The Artist as Healer” came later. With this new grander parameter I myself sought the through line from having delved headlong into my physical self appearance as Iiteral as it is to how I may heal myself through the work itself.. and voila… My Sweet 16.. AKA My Existential Problem Areas
I hope you all get to see the show in person as the other artists showing are wonderful and the performance happening on the 6th during the reception by Sadira Rose of the band “Other” is sure to tickle some fancy. I will also play a small bit. Please come if you can!
Negative Capability: The Artist As Healer
Here I am with the curator and friend Saundra Fleming. She invited me to be in the show and I’ll be forever grateful as I believe the inspiration will carry on into my future artistic endeavors.
Opening:Saturday, September 24th 5-7pm
Quilts of Love. Sake Set. Pots for Pots sake.
Regarding the Quilts of Love.1.2.3.
In reading about the Nahuatl, a people from land where my people are most certainly descendants of, I came across a custom that describes a sacred bundle; the Tlaquimilolli. It is very similar to a First Nations right, where-in the divine force itself is welcomed and symbolically bound in a cloth and is wrapped about some special thing in order to keep it safe. It can serve as a symbol of the groups identity even, conveying the oneness of the tribe, thus strengthening the group as a whole. I have for years now made such quilts as these on display for my own loved ones… bringing myself to tears thinking I have made something to keep them warm. My people. I have given them on birthdays and as welcome to the family presents. Instinct it seems has forced my hand and I willingly oblige as I am want to create with some intention.
It is my wish to have imbued these bundles for you.. stranger, with love and so, choose to bind the blankets with a heart I molded out of clay. An obvious metaphor, maybe, but love seems indeed more of what we need… more of.
In many traditions throughout our world the gift of a blanket symbolizes an honor and sometimes even a claim of someone as your chosen family or to offer a sense of luck and prosperity to a new union… in all cases it most certainly means that you care and want the receiver to know that.
Blanket
as maker: a chance to ‘work’ through some manual methodical procedural practices
as image: I see London I see France actually I see a pixelated hyperspace implying conduit
as word: to cover to wrap and protect, charging the thing itself
Regarding the Sake Sets.
Ceremony is important as it puts one in place… and you can imbibe a spirit while your at it.
Regarding Dry and Cracked Pots for pots sake.
This was my first foray into the use of sodium silicate…. I will be revisiting as the cracks speak to me.
This body of work is an attempt at providing a space and the tools to commune with the divine.
Having had a traditionally catholic upbringing, up till being given the chance to decide whether to continue to participate, I reflected on one particular moment when I was made to kneel on dried beans on the front porch of one of the church leaders’ homes for “talking too much”.
Ever since then I’ve been against organized religion but have always appreciated the communion of it, especially the hand shaking of thy neighbor after being preached to about god knows what… I was busy talking.
It is in that vein, the appreciation I have for communing with whatever it is that supports us as a whole that I dedicate this installation to.
I was initially inspired to broach this subject after being awed by one of David’s cast-away pieces, which resembled a temple. I decided to recreate that temple’s insides and began to imagine what we would find there-in.
It was also when Saundra shared what she had planned to contribute that solidified the story for me. Her paintings on pillows gave the comfort factor and were very reminiscent of stained glass windows.
Group show with Saundra Fleming, David Traylor and Alexis Ortiz @ Columbia City Gallery Opening February 15th, 2022
Here’s a peek at some of my pieces and parts. There’s a tentative closing reception mid-March
My goal is to provide a space where-in one can commune with the divine. I have used my time to create some tools to use as a bridge/land line.
Come thru if your around! And let me know if you go I can meet you there and we can discuss!
Ultimately the “big” idea is to honor my 15 year old self with what my people refer to as a Quinceñero… which typically is not a thing as the event is geared particularly to individuals born within the societal context referred to as female. I myself (born/”present”/identify as male).. wish I would have had one and this show would be me doing so in spirit.
Currently I am working with fabric and clay, respectively, and I have attempted to use this installation to showcase my artistic sensibilities mixed with my sense of humor and wonder at what moments of ritualistic celebration can look like. I, like most, have an active imagination and do not shy away from the weird. I honestly and sincerely hope you can see inside this space a chance taken to share that weird.
I have also recently lost my big brother and want to honor him and our inclination to accumulate physical reminders of experiences had and appreciated for what they offered us. Be them a laugh, tears, a good night full of dancing and slight debauchery, and the birth of new members to our clan. I do this literally and metaphorically through the use of objects that have found a way to intrigue me enough to stay and somehow inspire my future artistic endeavors. My brother’s name is Elliot Luis Ortiz. I know he loved me and I continue to love him and wish if there is a chance he can see this and your faces as you witness it, that he is pleased.
The showing is ongoing… from now till the end of this year (2020).
At the corner of 150th and 6th in downtown Burien, Washington at the Maverick.
Corner of 6th Ave SW and 150th Street till DECEMBER 31ST, 2020
In my drunken stupor I didn’t get any photos of the crowd that showed up! Thank you to all who came thru and to those who participated! I’d love to see if we could do this is an actual fashion show… none of my pieces sold so I have clothes for it :”)
we find ourselves with the overgrown laurel, the stoic pine, the shy maple, the sharp
blackberry, the pretty lilac, the willful locust and the helpful camellia… and we are grateful.
feeling inspired for an outdoor performance piece in the driftless region
orejonejo 