ALEIDA ZAPATA
ALEIDA ZAPATA’S DIGITAL SCULPTURES EVOKE A VISUAL LANGUAGE OF FUTURIST FANTASY TO EXPLORE GENDERED EMBODIMENT WHILE NEGOTIATING BETWEEN IDENTITY, PERSONA, AND REPRESENTATION AS EXPERIENCED BY TRANSGENDER WOMEN.
Aleida Zapata, "AI Babes (in ur area)", digital sculpture, 2022, image courtesy of the artist
Aleida Zapata, "AmorAmorAmor", digital sculpture, 2022, image courtesy of the artist
Aleida Zapata, "A Dip", digital sculpture, 2022, image courtesy of the artist
The artist creates her surreal imagery using 3D software, frequently modeling figures after her own body, before abstracting and transforming them into beings which evade simple designation as either wholly real or unreal, organic or synthetic. While her recent body of work began as a personal project to reconcile the emotions experienced during her gender transition, it has developed into an examination of the polarizing scrutiny trans women endure within a culture mediated by images.
At present, trans and gender nonconforming people are under dire threat, yet transgender women face undue pressures which simultaneously seek to erase them from daily life while remaining hyper-visible as commodified media tokens. By rendering transfeminine figures which do not conform to the imposed performance of “real womanhood,” let alone human-machine binaries, Zapata nullifies these cis-heteronormative impulses which dictate the self-representation of transgender women.
Aleida Zapata is a Chicago-based, interdisciplinary artist whose practice spans video, sound, and digital media. She received her BFA from Columbia College Chicago.
More of her work can be found through her Instagram @aleidasuraya or Soundcloud, @surayasuraya.