Alejandra Abad

Alejandra Abad was born in Venezuela and partially raised in Florida. Her style is informed by architectural studies at FAU, Film, Video, New Media and Animation at SAIC, and Interdisciplinary Media Arts Practices at CU Boulder. She experiments with multimedia, site-specific installations, and handmade materials while examining access, borders, and boundaries. She refers to memories of her upbringing while visually depicting transformations that come with migration and hybrid identity. Her animations and moving images often feature fragmentation, folklore, and mythology. By mixing personal experience with socio-political critiques, whether it is tied to her homeland or new homes, her work aims to promote wellness, community, equity, and empathy. Her content has historic roots in anticolonial movements tied to international surrealism and magical realism, particularly from South America and the Caribbean. Her recent works center on ecology and environmental futures.

Instagram @alejandraabad__

Yara

These moving images represent the Venezuelan goddess called Yara. This animation connects us to the strength of mother nature through a series of mythological transformations about resilience. Yara was the daughter of an indigenous chief from Yaracuy. According to legend, Yara was devoured by an anaconda in the river; however, she asked the Sorte Mountain for help and the mountain saved her by making her part of itself. During the Spanish colonization of Venezuela the indigenous name Yara changed to Santa María de la Onza or Saint Mary of the Ounce.