Abstract
The following works are an exploration of the histories of colonization that the Mestizo experience in North America as well as how the settler colonial phenomenon continues to exist in the contemporary United States. The projects scrutinize the impact of racism, transphobia, classism, capitalism, and heteropatriarchy, as they affect the material realities of people whose lives are determined by their relationship to Western ideology and the gender construct. The use of sculpture, photography, and craft within the bodies of work help conceptualize the tension of Indigenous and Western narratives. Vick Quezada seeks to reconcile and intervene in Western “commonsense” notions by merging material culture by way of abstraction. Quezada is most compelled by the places where evidence of resistance and survival is made manifest. Through their work they desire to generate alternative empathies that open paths for a new consciousness.
