biography

Paloma Ayala (1980, Matamoros, Mexico) received a BFA at the University of Monterrey, Mexico (2002) and a Professional Teaching Degree at Arte A.C. also in Mexico (2003). From 2005 to 2010 she organized community workshops for children and adults in Rochester, NY (USA). developed collaborations and exhibited her artwork. Paloma lives in Switzerland since 2010, where she pursues her interests in community focused projects, participation and artistic collaborations. She is currently studying an MA in the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste in Zürich.

Paloma explores the northeastern Mexican border problematics through different means and media. She is interested in the relationship between domestic and political contexts. In her practice, she establishes a working-relation with specific communities, creates topics of research, asks for collaboration or participation, and addresses domestic issues in the public space with the ultimate purpose of bringing them back to the domestic. She is currently trying to resolve a connection between her Mexican native background and her current living space in Zürich, which until now has proven to be an elusive task.

List of Exhibitions

* Mar. 2017 / “Christmas Dinner”, video screening. Selected on the Shortlist for the Credit Suisse Videokunst Förderpreis (video prize), Bern
* Dec. 2016- Jan. 2017 / “Monterrey Metrópoli, Diario de los Nuevos Distritos”, 3rd edition of the Fictitious News series. Publication distributed in the streets, Metro, Colegio Civil Cultural Center, and Graficante studios. Monterrey, Mexico.
* Dec. 2016- Jan. 2017 / “Christmas Dinner”, video screening. Selected on the exhibition Auswahl 16, curated by Claudia Spinelli. Aargauer Kunstmuseum, Aarau.

​* Dec. 2016  / “#9044" Cooking event at ELSA Industrial Workshops in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and Artist Talk at Galerie 409 in Brownsville, Texas.

* Dec. 2016 / "Screening of "Christmas Dinner" in the Pavilleon, in the context of the program Amt für Alles, run by Patrizia Vitalli and Sabeth Irgendwie

*Oct. - Dec. 2016  / “Proposals”, a participatory artistic research and workshop event with students of the Autonome Schule Zurich. Collaboration with Julia Weber presented in the context of the Humain Parcour program.
* Oct. 2016  / “Trendy Mendies”, collaboration with Isabelle Wackernagel and Clarissa Hurst, part of the festival “ExpoTranskultur 2016: mein, dein ALLTAG hier” curated by Eleonora Stassi
* Sept. 2016  / “#9044”, long distance collaboration with Javier Dragustinovis presented in the Art Container, Zurich
* Aug. 2016  / “KRAEISLAUF” Collective Drawing Experiment. Collaboration with Alejandra Jean-Mairet in the context of the LIVING ROOM program in Stadion Brache, curated by Anna Graber
*Aug. - Oct. 2016 / “Ein Bett am Ende des Tages”, photographs and objects from the Workshop with refugee woman held in Quartiertreff ACCU, Oerlikon. Collaboration with Janeth Berretini part of the festival “ExpoTranskultur 2016: mein, dein ALLTAG hier”, curated by Eleonora Stassi
* April 2016  / “Christmas Dinner”, installation in the Showroom Z+ “Der Schmerz der Anderen”, Zurich. Grant prize awarded for production
* Nov. 2015 / “Faking a State of Emergency Wall 1”, installation in the Infotag, Zurich
* Oct. 2015 / “Faking a State of Emergency”, installation in the Art Container, Zurich curated by Anna Fech
* Sept. 2015 /  Participation in the Archive Box Museum, Zurich. Curated by Costanza Sartoris and Francesca Brusa
* May-June 2015  / “A month in Matamoros”, series of events, workshops, collaborations, exhibition, and interviews in the Northeast of Mexico and Texas. Sponsored by Edith Maryon Stiftung
* May – Nov 2015 / “Bienal de las Fronteras”, selected with the piece “Personal Volcanic Action”, photograms, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo of Matamoros, Mexico and Brownsville, Texas. Acquisition Prize
* April 2015 / 1st Edition of the Contemporary Nomadic Art Center, project by curator Anne Brand. Participant with the piece “Personal Volcanic Action”, photograms. Kanzleistrasse, Zurich
* April 2015 /  “Stop Decadence”, drawing event and discussion about modern human settlements in the context of Z+ Program. Josephwiese, Zurich.\
* April 2015 /  Exhibition and Artist Talk in the context of “Destillat”, with the series “What escaped corruption is extremely precious”, drawings. Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, Zurich.
* March 2015 /  “Linie 31”, participant with the piece “Take one, take many. Spread the word.”, at Halle Li, Zurich. Curated by Salome Kuratli and Maya Minder.
* Feb-March 2015 / “What escaped corruption is extremely precious.” exhibition in Bärengasse Museum, Zurich. Curated by Mona Liem.
* Jan 2015 /  “Stop Decadence”, drawing event and discussion about modern human settlements. Public spaces and Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, Zurich. Part of DOING & REFLECTING: art strategies, cultural practices & public spheres, organized by Domonique Lämmli
* 2013 – 2014 /  Screenings of “Zala Moves” animation, in Performance Mix Festival organized by New Dance Alliance New York City (June 2014), Main Stage Series: dance made in Canada Festival (August 2013), Winnipeg Film Festival, Canada (June 2013), and LiftOff Fall Workshop: Creative Process at Massachussets US (Oct 2013).
* June 2013 / “Movement and Manufacture”, drawing and handmade animations with dance performance by Sasha Amaya, D’Clinic Studios, Lendava, Slovenia
* July to Oct 2013 / “Portas Abertas”, international open festival and exhibition, Sala Rostrum at Bilbao, Portugal
* 2013 – 2014 / Screenings of “Zala Moves” animation, in Main Stage Series: dance made in Canada Festival (August 2013), Winnipeg Film Festival, Canada (June 2013),
LiftOff Fall Workshop: Creative Process at Massachussets US (Oct 2013), upcoming in New York at Art Here Now (June 2014)
* April 2012 / “Casa Vacía”, hispanic artists show, Zurich.
* August 2010 / Participation in “Le Folie Culture” Festival with the video “Red Balloon”, Quebec City, Canada
* March 2010 / “HER”, with the “Evo Girls” group, Flying Squirrel Community Space, Rochester NY, USA
* Dec – Jan 2010 / “RoCo Members Exhibition”, Rochester Contemporary, Rochester NY, USA
* October 2009/  “Inspiration”, Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester NY
* April 2009 / “Art Awake 09”, selected 5 artworks, Pixley Warehouse, Rochester NY, USA
* Nov - Dec 2008 / “RoCo Members Exhibition”, Rochester Contemporary, Rochester NY, USA
* May 2008 / “Evolutionary Girls Club Show”, itinerant show at Equal Grounds Cafe, Rochester NY (July 2008) and Squeaky Wheel Art Center, Buffalo NY USA
* March 2008 / “Art Awake 08”, selected 6 artworks, Station 55, Rochester NY, USA
* March 2007 /  “BIG”, selected 1 piece, High Falls Gallery, Rochester NY, USA
* Dec 2007 / “Food”, selected 1 piece, High Falls Gallery, Rochester NY, USA
* March 2003 / “Collective 7”. Soft sculpture and video, ‘Casa de la Cultura’, Monterrey, Mexico
* April 2003 and 2001 / Selections on the “Biennale Nuevo León for Emergent Art”, ‘Casa de la Cultura’, Monterrey, Mexico

Residencies / Exchanges / Other Programs

*June- Nov. 2017 / “KIOSKO” program to share and distribute independent publications by Foundation Alumnos #47, Mexico City
* April 2017/  “Art in Action: Artist-led Activities”, discussant and presenter in the series of discussions and talks with Jay Koh, Suresh Kumar and Jasmina Metwaly. * Organized by Dominique Lämmli and Anne-marie Bücher. School of the Arts in Zürich and Luzern.
* April 2017 / “Art and Crisis: Learning from Documenta”, Exchange program with students of the Royal Art Institute, Stockholm. With mentoring artists Donatella Bernardi, Olav Westphalen, Georgos Popudopulous. Visits to Documenta14 (Athens), Beirut and Lesbos.
* March 2017 Exchange program with student of Geidai University, Tokyo, with mentoring by Hotaro Higuye and Ulrich Görlich. Nara, Japan.
* Oct 2016 “Matter Fictions”, with mentoring artists Margarida Mendes and Christian Hübler, Lisbon
* Jul - Aug 2016 “MANIFESTA Summer School”, with mentoring artists: Jasmina Metwaly and Philip Riszk, CAMP collective, Heiko Schmidt, Georgia Sagri, in Zürich
* Aug 2015 “Art Colony” Air Program in Ohrid, Macedonia
* Aug 2014 “Old School” AiR Program in Gorna Lipnitsa, Bulgaria
* May 2013 “Mixer” AiR Program in D´Clinic Studios in Lendava, Slovenia
* May 2012 “FAR”, Festival of Art as Research in Ottersberg, Germany

Grants

* June 2016 / Production grant for the project “Fictitious News” from AVINA Stiftung and Edith Maryon Stiftung
* Nov. 2015 / Production grant for the video “Christmas Dinner” and series of photographs “Family Snapshots”, exhibited in the Showromom Z+, April 2016, Zurich.
* May 2015 / Acquisition prize in the “Bienal de las Fronteras”, for the photogram wall piece “Personal Volcanic Action”
* 2015 / Production grant from Edith Maryon Stiftung for the project “Shame and Generational Disorder”.
* 2014 / Awarded 2nd Place in the state´s “Social Innovations Price” competition to the project ExpoTranskultur Verein, by Kanton Zurich Offices of Social Development.
* 1998 – 2002 / Awarded with scholarship from SoFEs (Sociedad de Fomento Económico) and UdeM through the completion of BFA program at the University of Monterrey (UdeM), Monterrey, Mexico