Philadelphia, PA

Michelle Angela Ortiz

http://www.michelleangela.com

Michelle Angela Ortiz constantly seeks to capture lost legacies, personal stories and silenced voices in her family and community.  Influenced by her Latin American and Caribbean cultures, her images are connected to stories of displacement, cultural barriers, immigration, and social economic inequalities.

The Pennsylvania Convention Center acquired Ortiz’s Llena de Luz y Lucha; Madre de Mi Corazón; El Niño Consentido.  Each of the three prints and their corresponding three sculptures tell one of the many immigration stories of her family.  Ortiz’s mother, Epifania, arrived to the United States and settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; her grandmother, Maria Dionisia, constantly traveled back and forth to Colombia and the United States (Philadelphia); and her uncle stayed behind in Colombia.  The images reflect struggle, conflict, nostalgia, and how immigration impacts the family dynamic.