Artist Bio:

Anna Valdez (b. 1985) is a multi-disciplinary artist who examines the relationship between objects, cultural formation, and collective consciousness. Valdez’s artistic career began unexpectedly: during an archaeological dig, she found herself keeping a sketchbook in which she reinterpreted spaces, maps, and lived experiences. With an academic background in archaeology and socio-cultural anthropology, Valdez received her BA in Anthropology and Art from University of California, Davis in 2009 and an MFA in painting from Boston University in 2013. She now works across a variety of media including painting, ceramics, printmaking, collage, and digital media. Creating epic tableaux in her studio, Valdez moves seamlessly between still life and landscape painting, collecting objects and making new ones, and cultivation, observation, and fictionalization. “I am working on various narratives that investigate my own traditions and history through a visual format,” she says. In addition to her own store of memories, Valdez looks to her immediate surroundings, family photographs, recipes, and “vague stories” for the subjects of her work. Recurring motifs in her work include patterned objects, masks, and veils. Her work has been exhibited nationally at venues including Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR; North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC; Asheville Art Museum, in Ashville, NC; New Britain Museum of American Art in New Britain, CT;  American Museum of Ceramic Arts in Pomona, CA; Cañada College in Redwood City, CA; Hashimoto Contemporary in San Francisco, CA and New York, NY; David B. Smith Gallery in Denver, CO; 1969 Gallery, Alexander Berggruen Gallery, and Nancy Margolis Gallery in New York, NY; and OCHI in Sun Valley, ID and Los Angeles, CA. Valdez’s work has been featured in publications including Juxtapoz Magazine, New American Paintings, Artsy, and Artillery Magazine. Valdez lives and works in Los Angeles, California.