Artist Interview: Anny Ayala Ortega

Anny Ayala Ortega, *Caro at Lost Island*, Digital Photo, 2022

By Ellie Rush

Anny Ayala Ortega is a multimedia artist and photographer from Las Vegas, Nevada. She has worked in the photography field shooting everything from product to environmental portraiture, weddings, and events. In her personal work she explores design and collage using found imagery and images from her own archives to create new mixed media two-dimensional work. Recent exhibitions and projects include206 Zine, Hija/e/o/x(s) de Su- at Holland Projects (Reno) and Nuwu Wu Art Gallery (Las Vegas), and Life is Delicious at Curve Line Space in Los Angeles.

Ellie Rush: I first encountered your work at Hija/e/o/x(s) de Su— at Nuwu Gallery and was so intrigued by your presentation and graphic style of photo-transfer. It seems like you utilize so many different creative processes through your studio and commercial work: everything from fine art, to photography, to graphic design, to zines! What inspires you to explore so many different processes? Do you go with whatever medium best suits your needs piece by piece?

Anny Ayala Ortega: With my commercial work, I wanted a way to improve my skills while having fun; I work as a photographer full time and do a lot of cookie cutter images for the company, which stifles creativity and motivation outside of work. So making 206 Zine [206 Zine is a new long term project by photographer and skater Anny Ayala. The Las Vegas local documents Sin City’s small but growing quad skate scene] and getting to work with friends from the skate community was great. I have retired from that project this year, in favor of wanting to explore different kinds of zine and artistic processes.

My biggest thing with my art is experimentation with materials! I’ll use things I have on hand, things I've recycled, magazines, fabric, old paint, sale and thrift store items…personal photographs, family albums, things thrown into a box and forgotten. Then I make something with what I have. It makes art accessible for me and pushes me to think about how to create with pre-existing items. I’ve made collages since I was a kid, and it was a great way for me to express myself at almost no cost to my mom, who didn’t have a lot of money…I remember asking her if she could buy me the Bob Ross painting kit I’d always see in commercials, and we could never afford it.

Anny Ayala Ortega, *Brenda*, Digital Photo, 2022

Ellie Rush: How do your different creative practices overlap, if at all?

Anny Ayala Ortega: I started out shooting film as a teenager, getting cameras and film for free from yard sales. A decade of practice and a Bachelor’s degree later, I decided I was focusing on it for too long and wanted to expand into other fun forms of art. This led me to wanting to learn more about graphic design, and how to use it with photography. The years of photo practice helped me a lot with thinking of composition in other mediums, as well as how to use colors vs black and white in different ways.

Ellie Rush: I absolutely love the photo transfer process you often utilize in your work, can you explain what led you to that process and how it works?

Anny Ayala Ortega: Thank you! I have been wanting to play around with screen printing for the longest, but haven’t been able to do so. So I started searching for other ways to put images onto fabric. I love being able to manipulate imagery in ways other than digitally, or in camera. It allows me to add or subtract to them with physical mediums. The process I used for Memoria Sin Fecha was printed images pasted with photo transfer glue, then rubbed off to reveal the final image.

Anny Ayala Ortega, 206 Zine #4 excerpt, 2023

Ellie Rush: Back in 2020 you founded 206 Zine, an ongoing project that seeks to document the growing quad skate scene in Las Vegas. Do your zines draw more from your graphic design background or your fine art background? Why is that?

Anny Ayala Ortega: I think my zines are very much inspired by both! I’ve made graphic design heavy zines as well as physical, hand cut, painted zines. I’ve learned graphic design skills mostly on my own with a combination of experimenting and watching videos; it’s more of a fun outlet for me than anything else (or trying to get really good at it.) Everything I learn overlaps.

Anny Ayala Ortega, Collaged Zine, Digital Scan, 2023

Ellie Rush: Do zines creatively fulfill you in a different way from your other creative practices? If so, how?

Anny Ayala Ortega: Zines fulfill me in that they challenge me. It can be hard to get motivation for new projects, but if I have a creative itch, I can always count on being able to make a zine, big or small. I like to try and fill the pages in a “brain barf” way, with things like scraps I have on hand, or that I've been saving to use for something. It's something that lets me come back to the fun of making art vs worrying about whether it's good or worth being seen.

Ellie Rush: How have viewers responded to your work?

Anny Ayala Ortega: So far I've heard positive feedback from people in person. I have a tendency to doubt myself and my work, so it’s nice to hear that there are people who like what I make. It encourages me to keep sharing it.

Ellie Rush: How did you get involved with Scrambled Eggs, and how did your piece in Hija/e/o/x(s) de Su— speak to the show's themes?

Anny Ayala Ortega: Scrambled Eggs are friends, friends made through art! I met Manny through Geovany, and we all bonded over zines and an interest in other latinx artists’ work. My pieces in the Hijx show touched upon themes of childhood, religion, culture, memory, and rebellion, all big themes in the show. I have pieces of memories growing up that always stick with me, and I wanted to add those to my works. I was lucky to grow up visiting Mexico often, and with that came observations of what religion does, how culture influences my surroundings and how it's either blended in or left behind in some ways when coming back to the US.

Ellie Rush: Are there any particular themes you find yourself repeatedly drawn to?

Anny Ayala Ortega: Identity, connection, and playfulness are the themes that come to mind for me. I don’t always add them intentionally. A lot of my process is just messing around and seeing what comes of it; very rarely is there preplanning. I often don’t know what my work is about until it’s completed and I can see the elements I added without realizing.

Ellie Rush: Are you currently exploring any new themes in your work?

Anny Ayala Ortega: I’ve been wanting to explore more work based on my interests growing up, as well as folklore/fantasy realm type stuff. I’m currently in a bit of a creative rut, so I've been working on setting up a space in my apartment in hopes that I can get back to creating soon!

Ellie Rush: Are there any new projects we should look out for?

Anny Ayala Ortega: Nothing specific at this very moment, but soon!

ELLIE RUSH is an artist, writer, and student. She was born and raised in Las Vegas, and has created many local private and public artworks, including a mural for the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, a painting for the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine building, and utility box paintings in the Arts District as part of the City of Las Vegas AMP Program. She creates mixed media artworks referencing her own photographic collages. Her themes primarily include everyday life, internal wrestling, and the relationship between the individual and the universal. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art at UNLV in May 2024, and she is currently working on her Bachelor of Arts in English. Link to her Instagram.

Anny Ayala Ortega’s Instagram: @spooook.y

Image courtesy of the artist

Published and posted by Lyssa Park on July 29, 2024.