Pink Lipstick & High Heels: Work by Johana Moscoso & Julie Potratz

The practice of Johana Moscoso evokes a cathartic act in which she explores a personal stage of cultural identity. Being part of both Hispanic and North American cultures, she creates links between the two. The journey of being a Latin woman and Resident Alien drives her and has led her to study the process of adaptation to new environments. Hispanic culture has guided her practice through the employment of cultural aspects of national identity such as music and dancing. Moscoso’s practice involves an investigation of communication, identity, memory and labor.

The work of Julie Potratz is an examination of the self. She translates perceptions and impressions into whimsical, introspective vignettes – inventing surreal scenarios with props, sets, and hand-made costumes. Themes that arise from these scenarios include the complexities of human finitude, mortality, femininity, and the confusing nature of navigating one’s own psyche. She creates personal work as a process of considering the meaning and context of my own life, as a woman and as a human being, in hopes that my viewers will consider their own lives in the same way. The Socratic idea of self-development as a means to societal progression has had great resonance in my work, as it is my aim to engage people in joyfully considering the pathos of life.