On December’s First Friday, the Phoenix Art Museum is hosting “After Hours,” a multi-disciplinary event showcasing music, visual art, performance, food and opportunities to create art. We hit up one of its featured artists to get to know her vibe a bit. Here’s what she had to say.

La Phoenikera (LP): What’s your full name?

Noemi: Noemi Alejandra Gonzalez.

LP: How long have you lived in La Phoenikera and what are your roots?

Noemi: I was born and raised in Phoenix. I’ve called the desert and South Mountain friends for a little over 30 years now. My parents raised me in the Valley, my mom telling me stories of the mountains and their meanings. My roots are in the mountains of modern-day Jalisco, just south of Chapala. Both my sister and I have traced our roots further back to modern-day Peru … this would have been thousands of years ago, though.

LP: What’s your craft?

Noemi: My craft is interdisciplinary, mixing traditional media such as photography and videography with the material world. Since last December, I seem to continuously gravitate toward building structures out of PVC pipes as a means to display the traditional.

LP: What makes you love your craft?

Noemi: I love photography. There is a power in being able to hold a moment, freezing time. Time is so fluid. Photography then is fluid too. Photography lives in the past, the present, and the future.

Self portrait.

LP: Who is your favorite local visual artist?

Noemi: Lately I keep referencing the work of friend and filmmaker Pedro Pérez Nuñez. Today I watched this piece by him.

LP: Who are you listening to now?

Noemi: I keep going back and forth between Carin Leon and Mashrou’ Leila. Some might say obsessively.

LP: What is your most trusted news source?

Noemi: Right now, it is between Al Jazeera and the photo coop, Juntos Coop; I am a member of it and it’s made up of some of the most talented photojournalists of my time (no, seriously! I wonder how they let me in!) We keep news analysis interesting in the group chat.

LP: Why is it important to be an artist at this point in time?

Noemi: In the words of Nina Simone: It is the artist’s duty to reflect the times.

LP: You’re exhibiting work at the Phoenix Art Museum this First Friday; what do you want people to know about that work (with few spoilers)?

Noemi: I want people to know this piece is about what is left behind when we transcend life. It’s about much more than meets the eye. It is an ode to my childhood and an ode to collective grief.

See Noemi’s installation at the Phoenix Art Museum on Friday, December 1 from 5 to 9 p.m.

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