Interview with Natalia Anciso

by Clifford Brooks | Blue Mountain Review

How do you see yourself in the world? How is the way you see the world echoed in your art?

I am a mother, an artist and an educator. I think that artists are vital to remembering our collective cultural history and because of this, when I think of my role as an artist, I see myself as a visual storyteller and a historian. So much of the art that I create is predicated on realities and legends of my home. My works are visual records of family and community.

How do you describe your art? The colors marry function to keep the eyes in movement but not moving away from your work.

In many of my pieces, I juxtapose colorful watercolor-drawn images of bright flowers against stark, monochromatic media images, meticulously rendered in pen.  I offer the beauty of home against grisly depictions of violence and death. My work not only tells stories, but  also creates dialogue and critique around critical issues that have affected/continued to affect my community.