Jacki Orr: A Conversation With The Artist

Courtesy of Jacki Orr

​Jacki Orr likes stuff. And junk. And trash. And you can usually find these elements in her mixed-media sculptures, one of which recently posted up beautifully in a corner of Mesa Contemporary Arts.

For her latest project "The Goal is Interactive Acculturation" installation, Orr will feature found-object shrines and alters as well as video components that comment on culture sharing with Arizona's recent immigration reforms as the anchor. "The Goal is Interactive Acculturation" is scheduled to open with a First Friday artist's reception tonight from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Tire Pit Gallery, located behind Longhouse Studios at 914 North 5th Street

New Times spoke with her regarding the exhibit, her views on immigration, and her recent jaunt to Vietnam. The following is in Orr's words:

Living here in Arizona through the most recent months and years of dealing with the draconian fears of immigration manifested through state policies has had me thinking a lot about culture in Arizona and our greater American culture and such things.

What exactly is the definition of American culture? I don't think there is one definition because this country is made up of so many different experiences and cultures. How can all these experiences equal up to one definition? These questions got me thinking about how historically, regardless of the host country, how waves of mass immigration have led to great increases in cultural growth, whether that be in art, food, literature, architecture, or whatever.

A work by Jacki Orr

​Then that got me thinking about how Phoenix (and the state to a larger extent) is in such a unique position right now with regards to immigration and culture sharing. It is one of the first major cities that introduces American culture to new immigrants as well as being one of the first cities that gets introduced to new immigrant cultures. New American cultures are being grown right here in Phoenix before our eyes! Just like cultures in a Petri dish, no?

I've been researching sociological studies of how people navigate new cultures during immigration, whether they desire integration versus marginalization (who wants that?), how re-appropriation can be both encouraging and discouraging, and most importantly, how individual choice can steadily and slowly shape the larger culture of an entire nation. So choice on a micro level influences culture on the macro level.