Marcela Pardo Ariza

Try a Little Tenderness

- Kristin Farr

Absolute joy was palpable as I watched Marcela Pardo Ariza take portraits of the back of folks’ heads for a theatrical composition. Wrangling strangers

for a photo and earning trust in a split second is challenging, so the relative anonymity proved to be a magical incentive. Even more compelling was how Marcela radiated empathy as people smiled and posed, backs to the camera, most a bit stunned at the unexpected surreality of momentary reverence. Marcela is a charming cynosure with a knack for encouraging others to kindle their own special souls. Pushing against the history of representation and gaze, it is a boundless practice that incinerates expectations with a warm, sweet fire.

Kristin Farr: Imagine yourself as a still life with three objects—what are they?

Marcela Pardo Ariza: Leather shorts, a persimmon and a tiny portable speaker.

What was your journey to becoming an artist in SF?

I moved to San Francisco from Brooklyn in 2014 to do my MFA at the San Francisco Art Institute. I was drawn to the Queer legacy of San Francisco and the photographic history of SFAI. Six years have passed now, and I have met longtime friends, mentors and collaborators and worked with multiple artistrun spaces, bookstores, galleries, museums and organizations. I now consider San Francisco part of my artistic home.

Tell me about This is Weird Without You, your new public art project.