Mauricio Cortes

Statement

My process is driven by my experience as an arts educator, exploring and developing teaching pedagogies that ultimately inform my studio practice. My most recent drawing project started in the classroom as a series of still life drawings, my process then leapt into the digital space where I culled symbols and images from the web. I use Adobe Illustrator and a mechanized pen plotter to create the drawings.

Bio

Mauricio Cortes Ortega is a Mexican-American multidisciplinary artist and educator based in NYC. His work explores the intersection of education and colonialism. His studio practice is mainly project-based and highly collaborative, working closely with artist Alva Mooses to generate ideas and social art projects that have taken them to work with community museums in Mexico and cultural institutions in NYC. Cortes Ortega is dedicated to exploring novel ways of processing and generating imagery, drawing from his teaching experience and interactions with young students as inspiration for framing complex ideas around identity and sense of belonging.