Archive Aesthetics

The historical construction of race in the 19th and early 20th centuries, along with post-structuralist, queer, and decolonial approaches to photography continue to inform my practice as an artist, educator and scholar. My research and work on the history of lynching Latinos in California has been widely cited. In this talk, I will discuss my ongoing Profiled series, which has led me to research and photograph plaster casts and sculptural depictions of the human form in over 40 museum and private collections. Most recently, this archival work has also resulted in a 25 ft. mobile on facial recognition technologies that is part of an exhibition at the Wende Museum in Culver City (Oct. – ’25 – Oct. ’26) and was part of the Getty’s PST Art and Science initiative.

This talk will focus on the archive as an essential part of my practice as I navigate the legacies of modernism, engage with decolonial and anti-colonial strategies, and embraces speculative imaginaries, from Muñoz’s “brown commons” to ideas around the queer imaginary, essential tools for critical engagement and self-care in the face of those who seek to restrict our freedom.

I will also share images from an exhibition on vernacular photography entitled, Queerish, that I curated in 2024 and rarely seen items from a survey exhibition of my work, curated by Dr. Amelia G. Jones, that will still be on view at the USC Fisher Museum (08/’25 -03/‘26) during the conference period.