artist statement
Abigail (Abby) Linatoc Mendoza (they/she) is a second-generation Filipino American mixed media artist and care worker from the suburbs of Chicago, IL. A graduate of the MA in Art Therapy & Counseling program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Abby’s practice is rooted in positive youth development through the centering of lived experiences - particularly of marginalized, queer, Black, Indigenous, and young people of color. While they see themself as an artist first, Abby applies their training as a therapist in formal educational spaces such as conferences and higher education settings across the US while also facilitating in nontraditional spaces such as online workshops and open studios. Their artwork has been shown in galleries across Chicago, Wichita, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles.
Abby’s work explores identity and space, with past work examining the perpetual foreigner and impostor syndrome through saturated colors and playing with a scale between the subject and the background by using references to Godzilla to illustrate immigrant alienism and “the other”. They spent a large part of their early life investigating their identity as a Filipino-American and how it informs who they are as a queer artist, facilitator, leader, daughter, sibling, and human being. However, Abby hopes to move beyond creating work where “I am the other” by creating dialogue on relationships and “how I come into this space in relation to others.” As they learn more about their humanness and their roots, they try to apply that growth to their work, knowing their practice is versatile and beyond the many titles and roles they hold.
Abby’s work explores identity and space, with past work examining the perpetual foreigner and impostor syndrome through saturated colors and playing with a scale between the subject and the background by using references to Godzilla to illustrate immigrant alienism and “the other”. They spent a large part of their early life investigating their identity as a Filipino-American and how it informs who they are as a queer artist, facilitator, leader, daughter, sibling, and human being. However, Abby hopes to move beyond creating work where “I am the other” by creating dialogue on relationships and “how I come into this space in relation to others.” As they learn more about their humanness and their roots, they try to apply that growth to their work, knowing their practice is versatile and beyond the many titles and roles they hold.
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elanlinatoc@gmail.com