In this episode we speak to multi-disciplinary and social practice artist Patricia Vázquez Gómez. Patricia breaks down how she uses art as a tool for investigation and to create situations which uncover tensions between visibility and invisibility. She reflects on her relationships with various resistance movements in Mexico and how she strives to remain accountable as she walks into a movement or resistance situation as an artist, navigating the work and privilege of the role in artist as 'activist'. Patricia also touches on her relationship to her queer identity, indigenous sexuality, along with the the importance of artists ethics, political awareness, and how critical it is to be accountable to what is driving you as an artist.

Patricia Vázquez Gómez works and lives between Portland and Mexico City. Her practice includes a range of media, from painting and murals to video and socially engaged art projects, and it is deeply informed by her experiences working in the immigrant rights and other social justice movements in the US, and by the zapatismo and indigenous movements in Mexico, both in content and in the methodologies she uses.

Patricia’s work can be explored at http://cargocollective.com/patriciavg

"I think that when we are doing work about other people's trauma, we have to be very careful about how we are doing that... I don't think we should not do the work, but I think there are ways in which we can do this type of work that is responsible and sensitive. I also believe that there are no formulas for doing any kind of work in the most perfect or ethical way, all we have is our values and our sense of what's responsible and what's respectful." -Patricia Vázquez Gómez

Interview with Patricia Vázquez Gómez. Episode 75

Artist-run independent broadcasting platform amplifying narratives of intersection, solidarity, contradiction and inspiration in the Arts.

Launched in 2014, Broken Boxes was created to transmit ideas between working Artists. Broken Boxes shares the lived experiences and world building strategies of contemporary Artists in order to archive collective strength while considering how Art and imagining may unbind us from collective social trauma. This long-form interview podcast reflects the vulnerability and strength of the Artist while acknowledging the many variations of an Artists practiced values including those of the activist, advocate, disruptor or culture bearer. 

Broken Boxes maintains that complexity is resilience and expands on the points where we stand in accomplice-ship for one another as creatives. By actively practicing long term alliance through communication strategy, this work amplifies Artists at the forefront of global and regional impact who are creating new ways to see our existence through Art, organizing and advocacy. This project promotes deeper understanding, healing and solidarity as we move collectively towards witnessing each other and the world in new ways.

Interview with Patricia Vázquez Gómez. Episode 75

Broken Boxes Podcast