Meet the Artist
Luisé
Cisneros Alavez
Sculpture and Installation
“I am a non-binary Mexican-Canadian artist exploring my identity as an immigrant with a mixed-race heritage. I mainly focus on the Mexican diaspora in Toronto and Belleville. Through my artwork, I examine body and gender politics in both countries, aiming to confront the concept of otherness and its connection to social constructs in public and private spaces.I also explore social issues stemming from the colonial legacy that has influenced my life, including gender performativity, language heritage, racial bias and relations to the land.In my work, I use materials like paper and bronze to address themes of permanence, ephemerality, archiving, memory, and absence, all of which relate to my experience in the diaspora, the physical qualities of paper and bronze, their socio-political context, places of origin and connections to the land. My artistic practice seeks to critique the barriers, discrimination, and violence I have faced as a BIPOC and 2SLGBTQ+ individual while simultaneously celebrating my Mexican heritage, its cultural traditions, and my identity as a Canadian immigrant.”
Luisé completed a baccalaureate degree in Arts at the "Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Xochimilco" University in Mexico City in 2001. Ze worked as a graphic designer in some design studios until 2005 when ze moved to Canada. As soon as ze arrived in Toronto, Luisé started getting involved in the LGBTQ+ art scene by participating in community shows and volunteering in organizations like Supporting our Youth (SOY) and Triangle program where ze was part of Toronto’s LGBTQ+ art community. Also, ze participated in hir first art group show Artwherk! Collective where ze sold hir first artwork to the city of Toronto thanks to Councillor Kyle Ray. In 2015 ze participated in the Latin American Ilustración 4 Contest with hir tribute to "La Virgen de Guadalupe" and won the "Los Diez" Award with nine other artists. The LAI-4 exhibition took place in New York City, Bogotá, Buenos Aires and Brooklyn. Luisé continued participating in local group art shows and worked as a freelance graphic designer until ze moved to Windsor, Ontario in 2016. Luisé continued working in arts by creating a home studio and participating in the Windsor-Essex art scene. In 2017, Luisé participated in the Pride London Art Show and received the Jurors' Choice Award. In the same year, ze started studying in the Fine Arts Program at the University of Windsor. Luisé applied to University to both further hir knowledge in art and to advance hir professional art career. In 2018, Luisé participated in the Pride London Art show and won, for a second time, the Juror's Choice Award with hir diptych artwork "Nurture" and "Confidence". A year later, Luisé moved to Belleville, Ontario and transferred to OCAD University where ze is studying in the Sculpture and Installation program with minors in Gender and Sexual Studies, Art in Public Spaces and Materials Art and Design. While having solo shows in Toronto and Belleville, ze recently was awarded with Craft Ontario Community Award for an art installation honouring 2024 Pride Month that is was on display at the Quinte Arts Council Gallery in Belleville. For the Writers Guild of Canada Screenwriting Awards 2025, ze designed the awards statue that will be presented at the Awards Gala this spring.
OCAD U - Faculty of Art
Art and Public Spaces
Minor Completed, 2024
OCAD U - Faculty of Design
Material Art & Design
Minor Completed, 2024
OCAD U - Faculty of Arts & Science
Gender and Sexuality Studies
Minor Completed, 2024
Sculpture Installation Bronze Cast Drawing Mould Making
2025, 4TH ANNUAL INSTALLATION AWARD EXHIBITION
Ignite Gallery
2025, The Ignite Gallery Installation Award
Ignite Gallery