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BIOGRAPHY
Victoria Saldaña-Arévalo is an interdisciplinary Mexican-American artist currently residing in the Bay Area. Raised in a small agricultural town as an only child, she had to find ways to keep herself entertained and drawing was just the thing to keep her occupied for hours on end. She’s quick to invest an unhealthy amount of time and energy in learning new topics and skills to the detriment of her sleep schedule. Her work explores mental health, existential conundrums, and silly little ideas gone too far. She often thinks deeply about character concepts, story ideas that contain a concerning amount of detail, impossible art installations, and bears.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I consider myself a jack of all trades type of artist who can fumble her way through most programs and techniques without too much difficulty.
I approach my art with grandiose ideas that inevitably get boiled down into something more manageable and different, but still much better than what I would do if I didn’t at least try to take a risk. My artwork is often a reflection of the state of my mental health, deep curiosities, and the many daydreams that float around in my head at any given moment. My ability to hyper-fixate is a boon when it comes to researching various topics to aid in conceptualizing narratives and learning new tools to aid in my artistic endeavors. I am happiest when I can blend together digital tools to aid in physical artworks, particularly in printmaking; nothing beats the tactile feeling of some good paper in your hands!
NO MORE NIGHTMARES!
NO MORE NIGHTMARES!
Victoria Saldaña-Arévalo and Hung Nguyen, No More Nightmares, Unity, Aseprite, Garage Band, 2023
No More Nightmares is a top-down not-quite-a-shooter game where you play as a young girl named Raine as she enters a house to get her beloved teddy bear back from nightmare monsters who bearnapped him.
I created Raine and the idea of the game minutes after our video game design class was given the task to create a working game. I was so lucky to work with a programmer who just let me take the reins designing everything while he got it to work in Unity. I learned how to do pixel art for the first time using Aseprite, made the ambient music that loops as you play using Garage Band, and I hid lore on the walls of this game to give the monsters a touch of character development. I came away from this game feeling deeply inspired and wanting to pursue a new version of it as a way to teach myself programming, so this is definitely a beta version I will always remain deeply proud of.
AFTERLIFE CATCHER
AFTERLIFE CATCHER
Victoria Saldaña-Arévalo, Afterlife Catcher, Photoshop, Inkjet Print, Collage, 2024, 12” x 8.5”
What happens when we die? I was instructed to “kill my darlings,” or in this case, take the digital collages I had created and printed out and destroy them so they could become something new. I created a collage with those pieces that reflect questions of an afterlife by displaying a vaguely human form playing a crane game with gashapon (capsule prizes) inside that holds their fate. Surrounding the vague human form are higher life forms that watch over them as their fate gets plucked up by an unforgiving claw. Or maybe they’re just Others waiting in line, depending on your beliefs. Aesthetically, it’s chaotic. A snapshot of a moment that was a blur or a distant memory from a previous life, if you believe in that. There’s no definitive answer for what happens after we die, and I think all interpretations and beliefs are worth considering.
The claw can actually move up and down, by the way.
The Benjamin Conspiracy
The Benjamin Conspiracy
Victoria Saldaña-Arévalo, The Benjamin Conspiracy, Monotype, Elementary School Records, String, Found Objects, Photoshop, Tri-fold Board, Ink, Graphite, Acrylic, Pushpins, 2024, 36" x 48"
I made a conspiracy theory board with a series of writings scribbled all over in various media that vaguely relate to each other without truly saying anything. I digitally drew a young boy to resemble a missing person’s image. I smeared paint over objects to resemble evidence. I photoshopped a random copyright-free image of a man. I created ghosts in images where there are none. I made a fake newspaper clipping complete with a quick article. I took records from my elementary school health assessments and pasted them together and wrote over them. I connected things via red string that have no business being connected.
I created a fake narrative. I made a conspiracy in a conspiracy; Benjamin was never real, but he might be if you don’t think about it too much.
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