Verónica Yazmín is an artist who grew up in Oakland, California. At the age of 14, she began her artistic career as a member of a group of muralists in Oakland guided by Urban Arts and Juana Alicia Montoya. In 2013, Verónica Yazmín returned to the Bay Area after spending six years living and working in Mexico, the country where she was born. During her time in Mexico she befriended many local artists from which she acquired new techniques such as printmaking with acrylic plates. Her paintings evolved into her signature style, figurative abstracts. She accentuates women’s bodies and movements to create aesthetically pleasing works of art. Her paintings offer visual beauty, tranquility and clarity in which a viewer can find an intimate connection with.
In May 2018, Verónica Yazmín graduated with her Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Art History and Studio Art at Mills College in Oakland, California. With the 2016 election, Verónica Yazmín found herself creating in a radical new way. She realized her work could be a political statement that would speak of her own immigration trajectory in becoming a US citizen. The artist wants her audience to ponder on their own family’s lineage and history towards this Country. Her senior thesis project consisted of a new body of work entitled Where is My Nest. This was an installation of ten photographs and six sculptures which includes one aluminum wire nest and five slip-cast bird’s nest. By utilizing found bird’s nests the work addresses the universal need for home. These nests call attention to a world built on migration, immigration and the search for a place to call home. They symbolize our need to belong. The slip-cast projects was then auctioned off to support DACA students at Mills College.
In addition to the slip-cast nests, Verónica Yazmín hung from the rafters of the museum an inverted nest made of aluminum wire. This upended home invited the viewers to enter the space of the immigrant and proverbially walk a mile in their shoes. Once inside, the artist wanted the visitor to feel embraced but uneasy. Can anyone truly feel welcomed under a wire fence? This sculpture was created to start the conversation of her personal voyage into citizenship.
Whether you are looking at her abstract paintings, the people in her photographs, contemplating her sculptures or experiencing an installation, Verónica Yazmín is sure to influence the viewer to look beyond the ordinary and see how art can assist in explaining the world; it’s beauty and the human need to belong.