Ulysess Ortiz
Writer. Artist. Maker of worlds, and of things that refuse to remain only in my head.
An artist of memory and becoming
I’m Ulysess Ortiz. I write stories, I make art, and I have never been particularly good at leaving an idea alone once it has found me. Some ideas become worlds on a page. Others ask me to work with my hands until something real begins to take shape.
Family, memory, identity and change keep finding their way into what I create. Inheritance of Light grew from photographs my family shared with me. I did not make those memories, but I chose how to bring them together. I cut, arranged and assembled them into two faces: the person I was and the person I am still becoming, each worthy of the same light.
I am still learning, still imagining and still finding new ways to make the things I carry inside visible. I opened this gallery to share that work honestly and to make room for other artists whose creations deserve to be seen in their own voices. If you have come to meet the person behind the portrait, I am glad you are here.
— Ulysess
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
The pieces still belong.
Why I made Inheritance of Light
I wanted to give the things I carry a shape I could stand beside. Family photographs were the right material because they already held lives, places and moments that mattered to me. Bringing them together was a way of asking how a person can change without losing the people and memories that helped make them.
The two faces belong to that question: who I was and who I am becoming. I did not want one to erase the other. Both turn toward the same brightness. For me, that shared light leaves room for a life to keep unfolding.
Family photographs, a growing tree
My family shared the source photographs with me. I had them printed at a pharmacy, then measured, cut and arranged the pieces by hand on foam board, using adhesive to hold the composition together. The finished work measures 36 × 24 inches. These ordinary materials became something personal through the choices I made with them.
The growing tree carries my connection to family, cultural heritage and language. Its roots matter as much as its branches. From farther away, the photographs form the portrait; up close, their separate moments remain. I wanted the larger image to hold those memories without making them disappear.
What making means to me
I have spent a long time trying to make sense of a mind that can be relentless. I do not want to pretend that ADHD, OCD, anxiety or depression are a secret source of genius. They can be exhausting. They have cost me peace.
But creating gives me a place to put the noise. Writing lets me follow a thought until it becomes a world. Making art lets me hold a thought in my hands. Inheritance of Light was made with printed family photographs, a ruler, a cutting board, a craft knife, adhesive, and the patience I could find that day.
What I hope you carry away
I hope you spend a little time at both distances. Notice the faces, then let your attention find the individual photographs. You do not need to know every person pictured to understand that a life is made of more than one moment.
I am still learning what it means to become. Art and writing give me ways to stay with that question. If this work offers you anything, I hope it is permission to see your own history with care, and to believe there is still room for what you have yet to make.
This is my gallery. I will not fill it with work I have not made. I want what lives here to be honest. Something you can approach, question, and feel for yourself.
— Ulysess