“Cherish Marquez (she/her) builds complex imaginary worlds through interactive animation and game design. Her work explores environmental justice, mysticism, mental health, and queer identities, and healing from generational trauma. She puts marginalized experiences in the center of her work. She calls attention to issues of immigration and oppression by incorporating sociopolitical symbolism and the environment. Her work has a focus on the deconstruction of colonialism which is projected through religion, such as Catholicism. She does this by deconstructing physical objects and turning them into new symbols that represent her identity. Her work operates from a queer Latinx perspective and is heavily subjected to speculative futurism, which combines cultural practices of healing (Curanderismo) and technology to heal the earth of its trauma that technology has often caused (mining, nuclear power, etc.). She advocates against environmental racism and is inspired by the desert that she comes from. She works as an interdisciplinary artist, that delves into science, theory, and research. She combines the digital world with the physical world, often including handmade objects that act as interfaces to control the worlds she fabricates. She creates physical artifacts that contain the digital worlds she creates.

Her work acts as the mediation between digital and physical spaces, hoping to bridge the gap from her cultural upbringings to her study in technology. She creates a magic that is felt through her work which oftentimes is echoed through surrealist landscapes and animations that confront the viewer. Her work reflects on the corporeality between the physical and the metaphysical, allowing the viewer to navigate through a fictional landscape of uncanny beauty, danger, redemption, and the unknown. She also has experience in digital fabrication, creative coding, and wearables. Within all of these different mediums, her work is recognized through her unique designs that carry her personality and message throughout her work. Cherish Marquez challenges the viewer in questioning their connection with themselves and the world around them. She is hoping to guide the viewer to acknowledge the relationships we have with the natural world and the digital world. She strives to create accessible art and experiences that can be experienced by all, regardless of socioeconomic status, privilege, and ability.”

-Cherish Marquez