Art Speaks: Emerging Artist Alonzo Pantoja

Monday, February 22, 2021 • 1 – 2:30 pm CST • Pay-what-you-can, $5 – $20 • Virtual

Kick-off Fiber Art for All week with a special Art Speaks: Emerging Artist presentation of recent work by Alonzo Pantoja. Textile Center is excited to support emerging artists who work in the realm of fiber art and textiles–in material, process, sensibilities or vocabulary. Navigating through a queer lens in negotiating physical and imaginary spaces, Pantoja’s studio practice reaches across fiber art into painting, sculpture, and installation as their constructed works borrow from all of these fields, fluidly. Woven and constructed textiles interface with existing elements in the daily landscape, to draw attention and invite interaction in a system where viewer participation activates and completes the work. Says the artist, “Transient Sights is a collection of handweavings…addressing orientation, impermanence, and queerness as it relates to space and comfort. Using materials and objects already present, the work is a direct response to the space. By integrating the weavings as moments of gathering, they are temporarily co-existing and functioning as stand-ins for queerness.”

Join us in welcoming them in a presentation to learn more about their recent work!  Tracy Krumm, Director for Artistic Advancement will facilitate the conversation, where we invite your participation with questions during this special Zoom session.

View a recording of the session here:

About Alonzo Pantoja:

Alonzo Pantoja received their MFA in Fine Arts and Visual Studies with an emphasis in fiber and installation from Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) and their BFA in Painting and Drawing from University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. Having recently completed a residency at Ox Bow School of Art, their weaving and installation-based work has been exhibited in numerous exhibitions and featured in Hyperallergic and Design and Living magazine. Currently they are on staff at the Walker Art Center and a Continuing Education Instructor at MCAD, where they teach Weaving: A Sculptural Form.   alonzopantoja.com

This artist talk was part of Textile Center’s Fiber Art for All week, a festive week celebrating one of America’s most enduring and popular art forms.