Nuria Ortiz (Ms. Yellow)

    Nuria Ortiz (artist name Ms. Yellow) is a Long Beach native but spent much of her time growing up in both Mexico and the Los Angeles area. The street art culture of these urban areas inspired her as a young child. In addition to the cities around her, Ortiz found other, non-verbal methods of communication. Ortiz grew up with dyslexia, and wordless comic books and cartoons showed her art could provide a form of expression. She started a journey of “speaking” through her artwork.

    By her early 20s, Ortiz had explored a variety of art tools and media, and she settled upon creating murals with spray paint. She pushed herself to surpass what she thought was possible. Ortiz is self-taught and although she never went to art school, she continues to grow as an artist and works to give back to the community.

    Ortiz had been following POW! WOW! events for some years before she was invited to participate as a muralist. She unknowingly met one of the organizers for the 2018 Long Beach POW! WOW! festival and was asked to contribute. Ortiz says of the experience that “I was very honored and humbled to do it, especially being a Long Beach born Mexican American.”

    Ortiz believes in the emotional power of art, specifically that art has the ability to change someone’s mood in an instant. Because of this, she has invested time mentoring youth and facilitating art workshops. Of her own work, Ortiz relates that it is her “diary that only [she] can read, for everyone to see and to interpret in their own truths.”

    Written by Amelia Nixon

    Sources: http://artnois.com/she-goes-by-ms-yellow/, http://artslb.org/meet-the-pow-wow-long-beach-2018-mural-artists/, http://voyagela.com/interview/meet-nuria-ortiz-ms-yellow-southbay/

    Image Source (Top): - Arts Council for Long Beach -

    2018

    Untitled by Ms. Yellow

    An untitled mural by Nuria Ortiz (artist name Ms. Yellow) covers a wall barely four residential blocks from the ocean. Commissioned by POW! WOW! Long Beach for its 2018 summer festival, the colorful mural occupies the east wall of Sacred Roots Holistic Healing Center. Visitors will want to approach the mural travelling east on E Broadway and can appreciate it from the adjacent sidewalk. The mural is affectionately called “Psychedelic Forest” by the Center. Ortiz spoke with the Center when deciding upon the message for the mural. When looking at the mural, visitors can see two deer sitting in an illuminated environment, surrounded by trees, grass, and flowers. Ortiz’s style appears to reference her longtime interest in Japanese art and culture. The eyes of the deer, for example, resemble a similar method of drawing the eyes of Japanese animation characters. Using 33 different vibrant colors, Oritz hopes to give “a sense of peace and curiosity to passersby.” She says, “The main thing I hope my mural does is to want to make someone stop in front of it and lose themselves in it for a minute, completely forgetting any type of hardship or struggle they are facing. A moment of clarity if u will.” Ortiz’s process starts with creating initial sketches. After that, she chooses and organizes her spray paint colors. She says for this mural, she covered a part of the wall in a sketch, then she would paint over that section, repeating the process until the entire wall was finished. Ortiz worked for long stretches of time on this mural, painting “as many hours as the sun allows each day.” Written by Amelia Nixon

    Source: https://lbpost.com/life/arts-culture/your-complete-guide-to-pow-wow-long-beach-2018/

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