Artist Statement
Abigail Linatoc Mendoza (they/she) is a second-generation Filipino-American mixed media artist from the suburbs of Chicago, whose work explores identity and space. Past work has examined the perpetual foreigner and impostor syndrome through saturated colors and playing with scale between the subject and the background by using references to Godzilla to illustrate immigrant alienism and “the other.” 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.” Their practice is heavily informed by community care as self-care models as a student in the Master of Arts in Art Therapy & Counseling program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. As they recognize that humans are ever-growing and learning, they offer viewers insight into this ongoing transitional phase in their life where they are slowly finding their voice as a rising art therapist.
About Abby Mendoza
A graduate of the Herron School of Art + Design’s BFA in Painting program with minors in Design Production, Psychology, and the Pre-Art Therapy Certificate, Abby has worked with the Back 2 Our Future program at Breakthrough Urban Ministries, offering behavioral health support and art therapy services to middle and high school-aged opportunity youth in classroom, group, and individual settings. Abby’s past experiences also include workshop facilitation, individual counseling, and mental health support group work at the Disability Culture Activism Lab at Access Living of Metro Chicago. Their artwork has been shown in galleries across Chicago, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Wichita.
