Levi Chavez Valencia

Studio Art major

I am a digital artist exploring themes of visibility, social issues, and personal narratives through my work. Primarily using Procreate and now expanding into Photoshop, I create intuitively--following what intrigues me in the moment, whether it's a fleeting emotion, an untold story, or a pressing societal concern. My art is driven by a desire to amplify voices that often go unheard, particularly those who struggle with marginalization or invisibility. Inspired by both global injustices and intimate experiences, I aim to make my work accessible, using bold visuals and relatable themes to spark connection and reflection.

unseen

Adobe Photoshop, archival inkjet prints

Jewett Hallway Galleries

Unseen exposes the invisible labor behind America's agricultural abundance. Through Northern California's vineyards, I reveal the buried truth of immigrant workers - their bodies literally nourishing the soil that profits from their sacrifice. 

The work layers sky, vineyards, and earth to show this cycle of exploitation. Above, empty blue skies ignore the struggle below. In the middle, a lone worker tends endless rows. Beneath his feet, bones merge with dirt - the forgotten becoming fertilizer.

Accompanying prayer cards subvert religious memorials to honor these unnamed laborers. By replacing saints with the worker and prayers with their remembrance, I force visibility where society sees only profits.

This is more than a vineyard's story. It's every industry where these essential workers remain unseen. Unseen memorializes their sacrifice while demanding we finally see.

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