César Esteban Bernal is an interdisciplinary Chicanx artist born and raised in South Phoenix, Arizona. Their work explores cultural identity and personal narratives through the metaphorical use of sustenance and materials. They have exhibited their work throughout the Southwest and Chicago. They have completed a BA with Honors in Visual Arts from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island—having also studied architecture and public art at the University of Veracruz in Mexico—and an MFA in Fiber and Material Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
I define identity as the reassuring of the self within the struggle of making sense of the relationships between presence, history, and our bodies. My work stands as an extension of my lived experience as a first-generation, queer, Mexican-American Chicanx with disabilities—through which I construct my identity. Finding myself at the intersection between painting, sculpture, and crafts, I engage these processes through the lens of my cultural upbringing, particularly food and gatherings; one specific material that I have gravitated towards is the corn tortilla. I use the edible as a means of conceptually exploring the nourishment of the body, mind, and identity by way of the familial. I look at material not as a sole entity that exists devoid of meaning, but as a tangible collection of histories that build meaning through its interaction with other materials and the social dynamics in which it finds itself. Using this language, I begin to question and deconstruct the binary in gender, ab/normal states of mind, and cultural identity while dwelling in their interconnectedness. The manifestation of my work is in response to materials and stories and the environments I hope to see them thrive in—a reflection of my own reclamation of space and understanding of self. My purpose is to make work that speaks to the multicultural experience and bring to the forefront the voices that lie in unique, personal narratives constructed through life—a pursuit in offering an intimate space for storytelling.