KYRIANNA + Isabella K. Saavedra
The Women Within Me are Tired
January 14–February 13, 2022
Artist's reception: Friday January 14, 2022, 6–8pm
Gallery Guide / Price List
Photo Album on Flickr
Read about the show on the Local Look Chico art blog
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KYRIANNA and Isabella K. Saavedra met through Animus Collective, an artist collective KYRIANNA founded in Southern Oregon. Isabella began showing work in Animus Shows, and worked with KYRIANNA on a video project. Through this work, they became intrigued about how each other's work, though so different in context, tone, and style, still had some connecting threads of pain, feelings of underestimation, and tiredness. The Women Within Me Are Tired is an invitation to look at our realities, empathize with one another, and uphold each other.
KYRIANNA's work revolves around the theme of chronic pain and invisible disability. After developing a chronic pain condition at the age of 12, she found herself suddenly facing disability and the equally crippling ableism of our society. Throughout high school and college she began turning more and more to art to cope by making self-portraits visualizing her frustratingly invisible and intangible symptoms. In her final years of college she began working with other people to visualize their own symptoms—which she would translate to paint and paper, creating visual articulations of each subject’s invisible pain or discomfort. These portraits are meant to have a three layered impact—to provide a therapeutic experience for the people in the paintings, for viewers with chronic conditions to feel seen and represented, and to increase social consciousness and compassion around these conditions and what it’s like to live with them. Six paintings from this particular series are represented here—specifically the female or AFAB subjects. These represent the most impacted demographic, as it’s been found that women are more likely to develop chronic conditions than men, and are less likely to be taken seriously or treated adequately by the medical community. The rest of the pieces from KYRIANNA in this show are her explorations of her own continuing experiences with chronic pain, ableism and womanhood.
Isabella K. Saavedra
Artist's website
My name is Isabella K. Saavedra and I am a multidisciplinary artist based out of Southern Oregon. I grew up in Oroville, California before moving away for college. I am part of the Madesi band of the Pit River Tribe, and half Salvadorian. My work is a record of reactions to my own lived experiences, historical and generational trauma, and collective trauma taking place in our country the last few years. The work is marked by its unapologetic vulnerability, scratchy textures, use of textiles, and text. I often incorporate distorted figures that not only represent myself, but also represent spirits and ancestors that communicate with me during the process. These figures are rooted in ambiguous, sometimes violent histories and they are observers of today’s reality. I have a DIY sensibility and tend to use materials that are economical, found in excess, and easily accessible. This has been especially true during the pandemic. My work doesn’t stand still. It guides the viewer throughout in a way that is often gritty, raw, and uncomfortable. I aim to represent myself with conviction, authenticity, and earnestness.
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