On Feb. 1, Pitzer College’s Lenzner Gallery hosted an exhibition opening for “Aurora,” a body of work created by Valeria Tizol Vivas during her time as ceramic artist-in-residence at Pitzer.
Tizol Vivas showcased a captivatingly personal and immersive exhibition, where viewers were encouraged to interact with the gallery space and artworks. Sculptures were immersed in the gallery space itself, including several installation works.
Spanning a variety of mediums including carved wood, clay and canvas, the pieces convey a complex story inspired by Tizol Vivas’ grandmother, Aurora, who the artist and her family cared for during her childhood in Puerto Rico.
“I wanted to make an ode to my grandma’s life,” Tizol Vivas said. “And more specifically to my experience and my memories through helping with the care of Aurora because she had Alzheimer’s.”
The exhibit deals with her memories of growing up in Puerto Rico in an environment characterized by the decay of terminal illness.
“There were a lot of different inspirations, but I am going to say that memory was a big part of it,” Tizol Vivas said. “Memory and being from Puerto Rico, and being a part of the diaspora and being so far from my home.”
Tizol Vivas explores her Puerto Rican and Caribbean heritage by incorporating cultural iconography in her work.
“Coming from that point of origin, I have always had trouble with understanding myself,” she said. “I have always been very interested in dissecting symbols and finding a way to understand what I am, where I come from and why I carry the history that I carry.”
Tizol Vivas’ practice engages with her own familial history as well as regional histories of colonization. She is informed by cultural anthropology and references Taíno art, spiritual practices and Criollo regional furniture making.
“Through the furniture, we can see an evolution of form, and it’s also a way of viewing colonization,” she said.
The Lenzner Gallery itself also served as a fitting space and inspiration for her work, according to Tizol Vivas.
“I fell in love with the gallery when I saw it,” she said. “I love that feeling of being underground, and it reminded me of the cave formations from my island.”
“I was silent for a long time and it wasn’t until I realized that I wanted to be an artist that I had the tools and the ability to be a storyteller.”
The gallery space inspired several natural, clay-based pieces, such as stalactite lights that Tizol Vivas hung from the ceiling. Other spaces in the Lenzner Gallery invited a more intimate viewing experience, such as a smaller room that Tizol Vivas turned into a closet, where she installed two-dimensional and ceramic works.
“I loved the incorporation of the woodwork and the ceramic as very raw materials,” Hannah Liwerant PO ’27 said. “Then there were so many nice little details, where the more you looked at it the more you would notice.”
Tizol Vivas aimed to include viewers in her creative vision and experience. A hanging ceramic piece, for example, invited attendants to spread activated charcoal on the gallery walls.
“Using my creative language is a way of communicating with others, so I believe in touch and also I believe that we are always in conversation,” she said. “You become part of the work if you want to become part of the work. I do not create that separation.”
Tizol Vivas explained that her art allows her to explore her cultural and familial history, which she invites viewers to engage with through “Aurora.”
“There is no other way to be for me,” she explained. “I was silent for a long time and it wasn’t until I realized that I wanted to be an artist that I had the tools and the ability to be a storyteller.”
“Aurora” will be displayed in the Lenzner Gallery at Pitzer until Apr. 5th.
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