Aliza Nisenbaum

MOIA's NYC Women's Cabinet
2016

A racially diverse group of 15 women in bright business casual outfits and traditional garb sit at and stand around a table. Some look at the viewer and others converse with each other.

Not on view

Date
2016

Classification
Paintings

Medium
Oil on linen

Dimensions
68 x 85 in. (172.7 x 215.9 cm)

Accession number
2017.274

Credit line
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Jackson Tang in honor of Christopher Y. Lew

Rights and reproductions
© artist or artist’s estate

API
artworks/50511

Audio

Aliza Nisenbaum

From Whitney Biennial 2017

0:00

Aliza Nisenbaum

0:00

Aliza Nisenbaum: I'm Aliza Nisenbaum.
Most of the people I've been painting for the past four years now are undocumented immigrants.
My paintings are always made from life. I feel like when you paint someone and they're sitting right in front of you, it's a very intimate encounter because you get to know them deeply. You're focusing on every part of their skin, the tonalities of their flesh, and it requires trust on both sides in some ways for somebody to sit for you to paint them for so long.
The backgrounds in the paintings are usually a montage technique where I use crafts or some kind of textiles that refer back to where the people I paint are from. They refer back to particular places that they came from in Mexico, from Puebla or from Chiapas.
I don't know how much painting can do in itself in terms of huge political agendas, but I think the fact of sitting with somebody or paying attention is a form of ethics in my mind. I have to disclose my story as much as they do when sitting for them to actually be able to open up. I'm interested in the subtle politics of care in some way.
Aliza Nisenbaum

From Whitney Biennial 2017 (Kids)

0:00

Aliza Nisenbaum

0:00

Aliza Nisenbaum: I'm Aliza Nisenbaum.
Most of the people I've been painting for the past four years now are undocumented immigrants.
My paintings are always made from life. I feel like when you paint someone and they're sitting right in front of you, it's a very intimate encounter because you get to know them deeply. You're focusing on every part of their skin, the tonalities of their flesh, and it requires trust on both sides in some ways for somebody to sit for you to paint them for so long.
The backgrounds in the paintings are usually a montage technique where I use crafts or some kind of textiles that refer back to where the people I paint are from. They refer back to particular places that they came from in Mexico, from Puebla or from Chiapas.
I don't know how much painting can do in itself in terms of huge political agendas, but I think the fact of sitting with somebody or paying attention is a form of ethics in my mind. I have to disclose my story as much as they do when sitting for them to actually be able to open up. I'm interested in the subtle politics of care in some way.
Aliza Nisenbaum

From Whitney Biennial 2017, Whitney Biennial 2017 (Kids, Spanish)

0:00

Aliza Nisenbaum

0:00

Aliza Nisenbaum: Soy Aliza Nisenbaum.
La mayoría de las personas que pinté durante los últimos cuatro años son ahora migrantes indocumentados.
Mis pinturas siempre se basan en modelos vivos. Siento que al pintar a alguien, mientras posa, se da un encuentro muy íntimo porque se los llega a conocer profundamente. Una se concentra en cada parte de su piel, en sus tonalidades; y se requiere la confianza de ambos para que alguien pose durante tanto tiempo.
Para los fondos en esta pinturas suelo utilizar una técnica de montaje donde aplico artesanías o algún tipo de género que se refiera al lugar de donde proviene el modelo. Hacen referencia a sitios específicos de donde provienen, de México, Puebla o Chiapas.
No sé cuánto pueda incidir la pintura sobre los programas políticos amplios pero creo que el hecho de sentarse frente a alguien o de darle atención es una expresión ética. Yo tengo que revelar mi historia tanto como los modelos para propiciar la apertura. Mi interés está en la política sutil de preocuparse de alguna manera.