y que le digo y que me dice: Materialities, Their Assemblages and Narratives. Summary of Our First Talk

On August 24, 2025 at Plataforma de Arte Contemporáneo in Guadalajara, we launched y que le digo y que me dice, a new series of conversations presented by Onda MX. This initiative was born from the desire to create a space for dialogue among artists, writers, and other thinkers around the themes that run through artistic production in Mexico. Taking as starting points the recurring symptoms we observe in artistic practices and in the texts published in our digital magazine, we seek to generate an exchange of ideas, sensations, and intuitions with and from the community.

The first conversation, Materialidades, sus ensamblajes y narrativas [Materialities, Their Assemblages and Narratives,] brought together artists Ariana Díaz, Valeria Michelle, and Cynthia Gutiérrez, along with curator and writer Maya Renée Escárcega. The discussion was moderated by Sandra Sánchez, editor of the magazine. We chose to begin with this topic in Guadalajara, Jalisco, because over the years we’ve seen how artists and curators have consistently engaged with materials and their narratives—whether through their artisanal legacies or through approaches to natural spaces such as Lake Chapala.

We invite you to watch the recording of Materialities, Their Assemblages and Narratives, where the group explored questions such as:

● How different materialities shape our narratives and imaginaries.

● The natural spaces that exist within cities and the ways we inhabit them.

● Performative dimensions—not only of the artists, but also of matter itself and its interactions.

● The role of the immaterial and the overlapping temporalities within interspecies assemblages.

● The responsibilities and ethical considerations artists face when working with territories, people, and their histories.

This series of conversations, organized by Sandra Sánchez & Josephine Dorr, will unfold between 2025 and 2026 across three cities: Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey.

Participants in talk #1:

Ariana Díaz is a visual artist whose work examines the practices that become normalized within histories of land use, uncovering perspectives that fall both within and outside what is accepted as truth. Her practice centers on photography, video, and installation. She is a recipient of the GRODMAN Grant (2024) and the Young Creators Fellowship (FONCA 2022–2023), and co-founder of Espacio Negativo. She has exhibited at MURA and Plataforma, and collectively in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Mexico.

Cynthia Gutiérrez is a visual artist whose practice is grounded in an expanded understanding of sculpture—beyond the medium itself. Her explorations of the three-dimensional through diverse materials arise from a critical strategy that seeks to destabilize what is structural, whether on a physical, conceptual, or political level. She has exhibited at Plataforma, Museo Cabañas, and Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil in Mexico; at the SCAD Museum of Art in the United States; and at the Venice and Berlin Biennials, among others.

Valeria Michelle is a transdisciplinary artist and educator. Her practice explores the human–environment relationship—particularly its utilitarian and ecopolitical dimensions—through printmaking, spatial interventions, the performativity of matter, and co-creations with biological systems. Selected for the 45th Encuentro Nacional de Arte Joven, the Young Creators Fellowship (FONCA 2023–2024), and PECDA Jalisco 2022–2023, Valeria has held solo exhibitions at the Juanacatlán Malecón, Espacio Cabeza, and guadalajara90210, among others.

Maya Renée Escárcega is a curator and writer whose practice engages with feminisms and critical forms of knowledge production. She has developed projects with artists such as Yvette Mayorga (MAZ) and Karian Amaya (Museo de Arte de Ciudad Juárez). Her writing has appeared on platforms such as Onda MX. Since 2020 she has served as associate curator at MAZ / EstaciónMAZ, where she has contributed to over twenty exhibitions and spearheaded educational programs centered on inclusion and diversity. She has also published several excellent essays in Onda, which we encourage you to explore.

Sandra Sánchez is an artist, curator, writer, and editor. Her work is grounded in the practical possibilities of art, collaboration, and listening as ways to critically disrupt the affective logics of neoliberalism. She is part of El Cuarto de los Ojos Sucios (a performative space dedicated to mediation, exhibition, and reflection on contemporary painting), and research groups such as Máquina Simple and Ambient para Leer. She is the editor of Onda MX and teaches at the Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana.

Translated to English by Luis Sokol