Shizu Saldamando is a Los Angeles based artist who received her B.A from UCLA's School of Arts and Architecture and her Master's degree in art from California Institute of the Arts. She is of Japanese and Mexican descent and pays tribute these identities through her art. Her art is focused on suggesting that race, gender, and ethnicity act as white noise to the scene at hand. She uses her friends as her subjects to capture the energy of youthful experimentation and the freedom of malleable categories for identity.
I've chosen to do a presentation on Shizu Saldamando because of the focus of her portraits, which is to emphasize individual identity and capture the mood of her subjects. Since her goal is to capture moments in the time they happen, some of her art takes inspiration in Panno art. Panno Art is believed to originate in the 1940s by Chicano prisoners, who would create intricate drawings with the materials at hand, this includes panós or pieces of bed sheets in which they would be limited to using pens or colored pencils.
The specific piece that I have attached is titled “Embrace” which depicts two characters embracing, and more so comforting one another. This piece is done on floral bed sheets that in themselves are representative of Shizu’s Mexican-American through the multicolored roses imprinted on the sheets. This especially resonated with me because I have seen some Panno Art in person, growing up I had a cousin who would send his kid drawings from jail and it was very similar to what I’ve seen exploring Shizu’s art. The bed sheets also spoke to me because growing up a Mexican-American I would see these floral prints everywhere from bed sheets and pillowcases to curtains and placemats. I’m excited to present the information I have learned about Shizu Saldamando and the information I will continue to unveil, and I hope the rest of you are just as enthused.
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