ARIANNA GAZCA


SHE/HER | PDX, OR, USA




ABOUT

A first-generation Mexican-American born in 1993, I am a multimedia artist that experiments with illustration, animation, and video. Coming from a low-income and a varied neurodivergent background, I make work exploring emotional nuances and extremes through the lens of abstract imagery visualizing music and sound. The first in my family to go to college, I received my BFA from Pacific Northwest College of Art in 2016, winning the BFA Thesis Award from the Animated Arts department. Since then, I’ve received the 2018 Fellowship from the Oregon Arts Commission and Oregon Community Foundation in partnership with NW Film Center, and have had my films screened in Punto y Raya Festival’s programs, the Melbourne International Animation Festival, PAMCUT’s Tomorrow Theater, and University of Kentucky Singletary Center for the Arts 2025 Visual Music Festival, among others. Born in Richmond, Texas and raised in the greater Portland-Metropolitan area most of my life, I live in Gresham and work in Portland. When I’m not making videos, either short or shorter-form, I find inspiration by playing retro video games on my computer, watching anime and reading manga, listening to all kinds of music, and sharing memes with friends on the regular.  

    ARTIST STATEMENT

    Not limited to just one tool or medium to express myself in my work, I am primarily interested in how I can convey my dreams and psyche through nuanced or at times extreme emotional experiences by creating moving images and illustrations. When it comes to video and animation; combining digital rotoscoped animation, digital 3D animation created from distorted shapes on the Blender software, and collecting random video footage on my commute and travels, I blend all of these materials together to create an otherworldly sequence of events. Concerning illustration; I use the iPad app Procreate to digitally paint layers of abstracted shapes, expressions and textures to convey a mood and feeling. Inspired by music ranging from EDM to metal, Japanese animation and comics, and abstract art, my work responds to these influences by harmonizing these elements across different modes and methodologies; my true emotions coded in color, movement, and texture, synchronized to sound both calming and harsh. I challenge myself to use abstract imagery to weave a universal language on the human condition: our desires and ambitions, our flaws and resistances, and how this affects us emotionally, mentally, and physically. I do this in order to form a deep and personal connection with my audience through shared joy and suffering. Having experienced rigorous setbacks and challenges in my life, I use my art as a form of healing, and my hope is that in turn it will also heal or provide a form of catharsis to others who need it the most. I am currently exploring this challenge further by experimenting with short-form content in response to digital accessibility and platforms where time and attention are of the utmost importance to the audience.

    EDUCATION

    • Pacific Northwest College of Art; Portland, OR: BFA in Animated Arts, 2016
    • Mt. Hood Community College; Gresham, OR: AS in Art, 2011

    AWARDS

    • Top Juror’s Pick, University of Rochester Medical Center’s Bridge Art Gallery Group Exhibit, 2024
    • Originality 2nd Place Award, Mt. Hood Community College Virtual Student Art Showcase Exhibition, 2021
    • Oregon Media Arts Fellowship, Oregon Arts Commission and Oregon Community Foundation in partnership with NW Film Center, 2018

    EXHIBITIONS & SCREENINGS

    Arts Council of Lake Oswego’s Artspace; Lake Oswego, OR: Exhibition, SPECTRA
    2025

    University of Kentucky Singletary Center for the Arts; Lexington, KY: Screening, SCFA Visual Music Festival
    2025

    Building 5; Portland, OR: Screening, On the Wall 2
    2024

    imperfecta gallery; Oregon City, OR: Group Exhibition, Perfectly Imperfect
    2024

    SAMHSA Office of Recovery; Online Exhibit: Gallery of Hope; Artistic Expressions of Recovery Across the Nation
    2024

    PAM CUT Tomorrow Theater; Portland, OR: Local Animation Showcase
    2024

    Anacortes Arts Festival; Anacortes, WA: Juried Fine Art Exhibition 
    2024

    Gresham Area League for the Arts at the Troutdale Art Center; Troutdale, OR: Group Show, Sublime to Ridiculous
    2024

    University of Rochester Medical Center’s Bridge Art Gallery; Rochester, NY: Group Exhibit, Growth in Tough Times
    2024

    Gresham Area League for the Arts; Gresham, OR: Group Show, Art in Motion
    2024

    Galesburg Community Arts Center; Galesburg, IL: GALEX 57 National Competition & Exhibition
    2024

    Gresham Area League for the Arts; Gresham, OR: Group Show, Matters of the Heart
    2024

    The Arts Center; Corvallis, OR: Group Exhibition, On To New Horizons 
    2021 

    Online; Gresham, OR: Group Exhibition, MHCC Student Art Showcase 
    2021 

    Online; Mexico City, Mexico: Screening, Kinam Festival 
    2021 

    Cinema Arena Aurora; San Potito Sannitico, Italy: Screening, Aurora Film Festival 
    2020 

    Cineteca Nuevo León; Monterrey, Mexico: Screening, Esto Es Para Esto 
    2019 

    Theater of the Municipal Cultural multiplex (Palea Sfagia); loannina, Greece: Screening, Photometria International Photography Festival 
    2019 

    Museo C.A.V. La Neomudéjar; Madrid, Spain: Screening, Abstracciones Visuales & Visual Music, FestivalIVAHM 
    2019 

    Online: Screening, 2019 Hazel Eye Film Festival 
    2019 

    Whitsell Auditorium, Portland Art Museum; Portland, OR: Screening, 45th Northwest Filmmakers' Festival 
    2018 

    CETA Centrum Technologi Audiowizualny; Wroctaw, Poland: Screening, Reel #3: Abstract Art in Motion, Punto y Raya Festival 
    2018 

    Melbourne, Australia: Screening, Melbourne International Animation Festival 
    2017

    Bogota, Colombia: Screening, Bogota Experimental Film Festival / CineAutopsia 
    2017 

    Boathouse Microcinema; Portland, OR: Screening, Portland Unknowns 
    2017 

    Killjoy Collective; Portland, OR: Screening, BROADCAST 
    2017 

    Another Experiment by Women Film Festival; New York, NY: Screening, Where We Are 
    2017 

    North Portland Unknown; Online: Group Exhibition, Unknown Television 
    2017 

    Portland Art Museum's Whitsell Auditorium, 5th Ave Cinema; Portland, OR: Screening, 43rd Northwest Filmmakers' Festival 
    2016 

    Regional Arts & Culture Council; Portland, OR: Solo Screening, Night Lights: My Mind is a Cluster 
    2016 

    Zentrum für Kunst und Medientchnologie (ZKM); Karlsruhe, Germany: Screening, Punto y Raya Festival 
    2016 

    Artists' Television Access; San Francisco, CA: Screening, Chaos and Order, an iotaCenter Salon 
    2016 

    Pacific Northwest College of Art; Portland, OR: Group Exhibition, PNCA BFA Thesis Exhibition 
    2016 

    Regional Arts & Culture Council; Portland, OR: Screening, Night Lights: You Are Here
    2015 

    5th Ave Cinema; Portland, OR: Screening, Visuals Film Festival 
    2015 

    Pacific Northwest College of Art; Portland, OR: Group Exhibition, Expanded Frames; Fears and Fantasies 
    2015 

    Hollywood Theater; Portland, OR: Screening, Stop/Watch Video Festival 
    2015 

    Pacific Northwest College of Art; Portland, OR: Group Exhibition, PNCA Benefactors Gala 
    2015 

    Pacific Northwest College of Art; Portland, OR: Group Exhibition, PNCA Animated Arts; First Thursday March 
    2015

    FILMOGRAPHY

    • You’ll Become Another Distant Memory, 41 seconds, 2024
    • Atelophobia, 53 seconds, 2024
    • Saudade, 4 minutes, 2024
    • Burnout, 6 minutes, 2020
    • Metanoia, 7 minutes, 2018
    • My Mind is a Cluster, 10 minutes, 2016
    • Blue DISCORD, 6 minutes, 2016