On Wednesday, February 19th, the UIS ECCE Speaker Series hosted an event featuring in the UIS Brookens Auditorium featuring artist Moises Salazar Tlatenchi. The event was followed by an art showcase in the UIS Art Gallery.
Tlatenchi is a non-binary artist based in Chicago. Their art focuses on exploring the intersection of queer identity and the immigrant experience in the Latinx community.
“When I’m making work or when I’m presenting artwork, my motivations are to represent the communities that I’m a part of, both as a child of immigrants and also as a queer person.” Tlatenchi explained the motivations behind their artistic drive.
“There’s a lot of miscommunication that has been weaponized to antagonize these communities.” Tlatenchi stated. “If my work can be a vehicle for people to understand the truths and the hardships that both the undocumented community and the queer communities faces, if I can teach people, that’s what I want to do.”
Tlatenchi’s art has a mythological quality to it. “For this body of work, I have been relating to snakes to sort of find my own personal story of mythics.”
This exhibit in particular was inspired by snake imagery to explore themes related to transgender identities. Tlatenchi is interested in “using mythology to create works that can tell trans narratives as a response to the outward hate that transpeople are facing both socially and through legislation.”
During the Speaker Series, Tlatenchi mentioned a number of other influences on their art, including Latinx culture, church architecture, and the human body. They also spoke about resilience and honoring queer ancestors.
Tlatenchi’s artistic journey serves as inspiration for other queer people and children of immigrants to pursue their passions and to find unique ways to express themselves. Their art is a reminder that these stories those who tell them are important and deserve to be heard and respected.
