Jocelyne Garcia Ortiz

I am an multidisciplinary artist, a writer, and architecture major. I am a champion for the arts and a person of many faculties. Proficient in the language of humanities, spirituality, environmental and social activism. I seek to set my perspective on what life WAS, IS, and CAN be in America as a daughter of Mexican migrants and a descendant of Aztec roots. My artistry is the healing of myself of past traumas through creativity and representation. I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at the age of 11. I nearly lost my life after having my first round of chemo which consisted of multiple types of chemo administered through shots in my legs. I had been painting and making art since I could walk. I lost my dexterity, my ability to walk, I became completely immobile. Cancer impacted my life and the life of those around me. Through my practice of art, yoga, meditation, introspection, writing, and public speaking I have regained my power. Now I hold space for all people to do the same regardless of any categorizing "label" that we may choose in the spaces I inhabit and in my own artwork. Art should reflect the times in which the artist was present. It is a form of screaming through the fabric of space and time, it outlasts its creator. I feel art should arise a sense of emotion or awareness in the viewer's soul. My goal is to raise consciousness on the effect the microcosm has on the macrocosm of our existence, that we may be able to stop and put ourselves in someone else's shoes if even for a second, to allow ourselves to perceive alternate realities that are different from our own. So we can grow our compassion and ability to comprehend that which has no words yet, the unknown, the unspoken truths that many of us have been taught to hide. -J.G.