Micaelanne Nuñez
Santa Cruz, CA
Micael Nuñez is a printmaker and illustrator exploring how magical realism can shift the viewer's perspective by bringing to life a seemingly mundane moment in time. She studied Studio Art and Marine Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz and often incorporates aspects of her background in science throughout her work. At the beginning of 2020, she was the artist in residence at the St. Petersburg Artist Residency in Russia for the Pushkinskaya-10 Art Center. Nuñez created digital illustrations to capture the stories of important people on her journey against the cold, grey backdrop of a Russian winter. She then attended the Two Cents Press Residency in Serrazzano, Italy amidst the outbreak of the pandemic. Nunez is currently a freelance artist based in Santa Cruz, CA hoping to use her work to bring attention to injustices and start conversations to promote change.
Piece by Piece
Giclée
Bell jars are used to create and maintain an inescapable closed environment. White America has intentionally created an oppressive, closed system to oppress and monitor Black Americans. For Black Americans, freedom and privilege lie in plain sight, but just out of reach. This print highlights the rude awakening that many experienced as a result of the pandemic, and the recent protest movement in response to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and many others. Policing, and other racist power structures that oppress Black people, are being challenged in order to create a more just and empowering future for BIPOC. Piece by piece, people of color are working to dismantle the system that was built to uphold racial inequality.
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