Ortiz-Pagán's visual art projects tend toward a conceptual focus on how post-industrial and post-colonial communities have been affected by the way our society approaches and trades time. He explores the common thread connecting higher economic systems and displacement, with migration being one of the most important phenomena inherent to this correlation. His practice and process also involve contemplating spiritual practices as cultural gateways to developing community strength and self-agency.From the Artist
As an artist my practice gravitates towards immigration and identity issues through art making and activism. It is important to understand that as an immigrant time unusually happened in several planes; the here and there then become relative.
In my previous years I’ve developed work that changes its forms and condition turning time into its medium. For instance, I created a specific rust etching technique. The process allows me to print from a rusted steel plate in order to expand the conceptual dialogue about postcolonial aesthetics. An example of this is the Facsimil Razonable project on which the rusted image of a passport was printed for 28 days consecutively. For this reason my projects don't necessarily focus on a final object, instead they consider the process as important as the result.
—From Brandywine Workshop and Archives records
José Ortiz-Pagán is a visual artist and cultural administrator born in Puerto Rico and living in Philadelphia. He earned an MFA from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University, Philadelphia.
Ortiz-Pagán has received ...