Diosas Del Agua/Goddesses of Water
Casa De Ninas - Pachuca, Mexico 2015

In 2015 I was invited to travel to Pachuca, Hidalgo MEXICO by the Contemporary Art organization FRONDA who engages their city in social art projects. FRONDA arranged for me to work with the National Family services organization DIF (Desarrollo Integral de La Familia) who oversees the care of children at risk (infant to sixteen). I spent two months working at one of DIF's facilities, Casa De Ninas, which cared for girls removed from their homes or found on the streets. Most of the children who are found on the streets are considered undocumented and are unable to attend school. It was these undocumented girls that DIF wanted me to work with. Diosas Del Agua was a process of learning about eight little known Aztec water goddesses. We embodying the characteristics and powers of these goddesses through performance art methodologies. A final performance was enacted in the facilities empty water fountain. The audience were the other girls plus the staff of the facility. With the assistance of FRONDA myself and the girls sought permission to perform in empty fountains around the city but after much deliberation permission was denied. An underlying aspect of this project, discussed among the adults, was the fact that the state of Hidalgo produces the most water in Mexico yet has the largest shortage of water in Mexico. 90% of the water produced in the mountains, valleys and rivers of Hidalgo is drained south to Mexico City were it supports over population, but mostly it is owned by the largest bottled water and drink corporation Jumex. This serious crisis around lack of water is made visible by the countless empty, ornate, colonial style water fountains scattered throughout Pachuca, the capital city of Hidalgo.

Casa De Ninas - Pachuca, Mexico 2015

L’Occulte/Occulta - Pachuca, Mexico 2015

Untitled Performance - Pachuca, Mexico 2015

Untitled Performance - Pachuca, Mexico 2015

Untitled Performance - Pachuca, Mexico 2015

Carlos Iván Cruz Islas collaboration - Pachuca, Mexico 2015

Carlos Iván Cruz Islas collaboration - Pachuca, Mexico 2015

Mystic Lab, Żywiec Folk Festival - Poland 2015

Three Norns - Poland 2015

I’d Rather be Snow Shoveling - 2003 to 2005 “...raises the quintessentially Canadian act of snow shoveling...Playful, bizarre, and occasionally simply beautiful, these performative actions...range in style from pleasing patterning, through social intervention to humorous vaudeville; in each instance the artists (Salez & Jickling) find something to value about the white stuff that most of us simply want to shovel away.” Sue Gibson Garvey

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec - Montreal, Quebec - 2005

Bocce ball courts Square Viger - Montreal, Quebec - 2005

Business district Montreal, Quebec - 2005

Before: chair - Dawson City, Yukon - 2004

After: chair - Dawson City, Yukon - 2004

Before: tin can - Dawson City, Yukon - 2004

After: tin can - Dawson City, Yukon - 2004

Before: car door - Dawson City, Yukon - 2004

After: car door - Dawson City, Yukon - 2004

Before: classic car - Dawson City, Yukon - 2004

After: classic car - Dawson City, Yukon - 2004

Before: bench - Dawson City, Yukon - 2004

After: bench - Dawson City, Yukon - 2004

Before: bank - Dawson City, Yukon - 2004

After: bank - Dawson City, Yukon - 2004

Homegrown Festival - Whitehorse, Yukon - 2004

Printed matter bumper sticker - edition - 2004

I'd Rather Be Snow Shoveling bus shelter posters at the Vancouver Cultural Olympiad as part of Endlessly Traversed Landscapes public spaces exhibition - 2010

I'd Rather Be Snow Shoveling

Video excerpt's from I'd Rather Be Snow Shoveling video.

Valerie Salez

I'd Rather Be Snow Shoveling

PERFORMANCE GALLERY