Liliana Guzmán: Confession, 2021

In Next to Myself, Liliana Guzmán brings light to the sociocultural dualities of her Latinx female identity. Combining painting and photography, Guzmán explores her individuality through intimate and complex socio and ethnic experiences. Each photographic print is layered with gouache paint, charcoal, and other mark-making objects - emphasizing how ethnicity, gender, and memory continuously build upon the many layers that make up the self.

The meaning and influence of touch and emotional performance (masks) are both prominent in my artwork. The use of the mask obscures the face and acts as a mechanism to compel the viewer to identify with the woman. The yellow circles are derived from the religious iconography of the halo, which is meant to signify light, divinity, and a distinct separation between the holy and the laymen and women.