Any-Instant-Whatever (Variation #2), 2023, Video
Any-Instant-Whatever (Variation #2) is an adaptation of the original artwork Any-Instant-Whatever created in 2020, which is a contemplation of a day in Los Angeles from dawn to dusk captured during the winter months when we receive most of our much-needed rainfall. The sky and the sun in Los Angeles are both great unifying forces that infuse a certain relaxed Southern Californian style in its people, and act as equalizers, whose light and warmth caress everyone. People in Los Angeles from all walks of life experience the same sky—something we all have in common. https://rebecamendez.com/ANY-INSTANT-WHATEVER-1
The Sea Around Us (Variation #2), 2023, Video
The Sea Around Us (Variation #2) is an adaptation of the original research-based artwork of the same name created in 2022 and directly references Rachel Carson’s book. The artwork is an immersive and cinematic experience that portrays the adjacent Pacific Ocean as a fully animated body as well as a place of deep interconnectedness where multispecies kinship fosters a sense of awe within us. It contends with past environmental abuse off the coast of Southern California and embraces indigeneity to explore different modes of engagement with the natural world and inspire alternate worldviews and cosmologies. https://rebecamendez.com/THE-SEA-AROUND-US-1
Ascent of Weavers / Ascenso de Tejedoras (Variation #1), 2023, Video
Ascent of Weavers / Ascenso de Tejedoras (Variation #1) is an adaptation of the original research-based artwork of the same name created in 2018. Los Angeles has a vibrant Oaxacan community. I collaborated with a family of Oaxacan weavers and healers to conceive of an artwork as a healing ceremony of the earth. With this work I explore cosmologies that embody cycles of the sun, the heavens, the underworld, and directions of human life in pre-Hispanic Zapotec civilization in Oaxaca. Entities undertake a journey into Lyobaa—the underworld, guided by a canine god, to emerge as weaver-warriors and goddesses. https://rebecamendez.com/ASCENT-OF-WEAVERS