Rising Stars: Meet Denise Zubizarreta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Denise Zubizarreta.

Hi Denise, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a Puerto Rican and Cuban American Mixed Media Interdisciplinary Artist raised between Union City, NJ, and Hialeah, FL, currently living and working in Denver, CO. It’s difficult to say where it all began. I think I’ve always had a relationship with art and a confusion about how to engage in it and with it, in multiple mediums. After my husband passed in 2007, I needed something to release a lot of my anger and sadness. I found solace in painting LIVE at a restaurant in Coconut Grove, FL and I think that is what really began my exploration of art and its connection to the life of the artist. I didn’t just stick to visual works either, I explored stand-up comedy, performance, theatre, music, etc. Ultimately, I played around a lot but nothing ever felt like it fit. It wasn’t until I was well into my thirties, when I decided to go back to school for fine art, that I realized there was a lot more beneath the surface.

I focused on using that time to explore my art practice as art therapy. There was an obvious connection, to me, between the process of creating and my emotional state. I decided that unpacking a lot of the baggage I was carrying around was essential and it was the only way my work would resonate, not only with me but with those around me. This process is what opened the door to exploring my ancestry and the history of my culture. There was so much I didn’t know or understand and being able to explore it, not only as reclamation but also as a cathartic process, allowed my work to grow in ways I never imagined.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I don’t know anyone who can say they had a smooth road getting to where they are today. I think we all face our own demons and our own trials and tribulations throughout the journey of exploring our unique purpose. The struggle is what makes it more impactful, for me anyway. Without it, I doubt that I would be where I am today. My work is born from all the hard times in some attempt to make the ugly truths more palatable in order to encourage difficult discussions. I’ve struggled with a lot of different things. Bullying when I was a child, depression, suicidal ideation, health problems, and more have paved the road I walk on but today, I explore replacing them instead of erasing them completely. So far, I think the most difficult struggle has been learning to be okay with myself and who I am in my purest of forms. That level of acceptance still eludes me but I’m much more open to the discovery, whatever that may be than I was in the past when I was trying to conform to that standards others set for me.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My work is all over the place. I usually say I’m a mixed media Interdisciplinary artist which covers most of the bases within visual mediums but when I talk to my friends about it I usually say, “I just make what moves me.” Being able to play in different specialties allows me to be open to possibilities instead of staying boxed into a certain space. Right now, I’m focused on works that discuss my ancestry, identity and culture. I’m just as focused on research as I am on my visual work and they most certainly walk hand and hand with each other. Because of this, I think I’m known for having a deep dive backstory with every piece. For me, there’s an uncertainty to art and I firmly believe the research and Easter eggs included in my visual work allow me to fill in those gaps.

Currently, I’m the most proud of a solo exhibition I just opened on June 10th in the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design’s Rotunda Gallery. “El Bohío del Bohiti” took three years to develop and I’m humbled by the process and the details that are part of the unseen development of exhibitions of this scale. I think a lot of us walk into these kinds of projects with so much passion and excitement but the reality of the development as a whole is another mess entirely. It took me a lot of self-motivation and kindness for myself to push through and ultimately, I feel as though the experience is also essential in understanding self through the work.

Some would categorize me as fearless or confident, I don’t see myself that way at all. I’m doing all these things but I’m still scared while I’m doing them. I don’t think I’ve reached the point in my career where I feel a perfect level of confidence. I suppose what sets me apart is pushing through the fear without a second thought about it. Everything for me is awkward, every conversation, every opening, all of them have me shaking inside. Maybe my skill is hiding that fear enough to get through the tough spots. There’s a lot of voices in my head which tell me all the negative things and I try to push past that daily with my work holding my hand along the way.

Any big plans?
This has always been a funny question to me. I’m not one to plan to that extent, though I constantly micro-manage myself. I don’t like to plan too far into the future because I often feel as if it sets me up to fail or feel a sense of failure if plans don’t work out the way I’d like them to. It also just so happens that this has been a question I’ve had to answer a lot lately. Instead of making plans, I have hopes. I hope to still be creating in the future as well as have the ability to share my work with my community, wherever that may be. I also have hopes for a better balance in my life. I know that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with my work as a visual artist but I don’t think we give ourselves enough time to rest and truly digest what we’ve built. So, I guess the answer is that my plans for the future are to create a healthy work/life balance with my mental and physical health at the forefront with less pressure to fit into what the art would may consider as successful.

Pricing:

• $10-$10,000

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thevampdeville.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thevampdeville/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thevampdeville