I - T - Z - E- L




According to artist and RCA tutor Despina Zacharopoulou: "Claudia's transdisciplinary practice spans the fields of new media, performance, sculpture, and painting. Influenced by her background in architecture, her work explores the poetics of space through rituals she performs with her own postcolonial female body, as well as through the material remnants left behind from these performative actions."
 

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Fertility Goddess (2024)


This piece is a tribute to the ancient and contemporary intersections of tradition, fertility, and the female body. I created a dress based on a traditional indigenous pattern. This dress was worn during my IVF process, serving as a symbolic garment for the journey of freezing embryos. On the dress, I marked crosses over the areas of my body where I received hormone injections, reflecting both the physical and emotional landscape of fertility treatments. Through this work, I explore the connection between women’s bodies, traditional symbolism, and reproductive technology.

[Cotton fabric dress, hanger, thread].
31” x 40” Limited edition
San Diego, USA”.





















In God We Trust (2024)


Is a reflection on the complex relationship between women and money, labor, and value. In this piece, I stitch $100 bills into the fabric of the first dress my godmother ever made for me, intertwining threads of memory and currency. On the bills, I write phrases like “God will provide,” echoing the societal expectations placed on faith and divine provision, often used to justify economic inequalities. Through this act, I meditate on the materiality of money, the invisible labor of women, and the contradictions between financial dependence and spiritual trust.

[Old child’s dress, plastic hanger, red ink, thread, cotton fabric, and counterfeit $100 bills, used in money ritual].
20” x 25” x 16
Limited edition
San Diego, USA




















Invisible Structures (2023)


A performance centered on Xochimilco rowers and their embodied experience. This project emphasizes ethical collaboration with territorial actors, ensuring fair distribution of benefits and co-authorship through legal agreements. We signed a legal contract outlining the percentage of profits they are entitled to from the performance piece.

I-T-Z-E-L, Santiago Josefa, Braulio Flores, Fernando Acevedo.

[Performance].
Video installation (12”).
1 Video canal + 2 Audios.
Variable dimension.
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Camara: Mario Morales.
Edition: Mario Morales, I-T-Z-E-L.
Thanks to: IESRQ and Jesús Rubio for allowing access to the location.
Xochimilco, Mexico City .






















Cleaning the House on a Full Moon (2022)


In this piece, I explored the act of cleaning as both a physical and spiritual practice. During a full moon, I cleansed my house to free myself from past relationships. Every stroke of the broom or rag became a ritual of emotional release and renewal. This piece is part of a personal collection in Belgium.

Limited edition.
[Cotton cloth and household dust, used in cleaning ritual].
15” x 23”
Mexico City.

[Wall Text]
Variable dimension.
Mexico City


Entanglement (Sculpture) (2022)


A ritual-based piece that explores personal transformation. It reflects on my relationship with my mother. In this ritual, I asked her to cut my hair, and symbolically freeing me from her expectations. These personal rituals, which I see as having therapeutic potential, blur the lines between the everyday and the imagined, becoming acts of resistance against societal structures.


[Hair form the artist on PET food tray and PVC film].
18” x 14” x 2.16”.


Entanglement (Video) (2022)


[Performance].
Video (15”).
1 Video canal + 1 Audio.
Variable dimension.
Video Still 1/2.

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Participants:
María Luisa Hernández Arellano. Mexico City.



Acts of Matter (2022)

Exploring the Agency and Interplay of Matter through a Cleansing Rituals in the sea. Where my father and I transformed into something more than humans. Separating our social identity and the encompassing nature reminds us of our shared responsibility. In a bottle of cider, we contained all our acts of dominion. We accepted what was, what is, and yearned for what will be.

[Wood with cow hair and glass bottle with sea water, used in cleansing ritual]. 
27” x 16”. 
Veracruz, Mexico.