catana joy is the creative practice of Ana Catalina Vázquez Ramírez.

I playfully inquire about the ancient and emerging stories a given time and place hold. I embody the name joy in honor of my maternal lineage which carries the name Alegría (meaning happiness or joy). As someone uprooted from their homeland, this conscious embodiment of lineage in my work offers a way to connect with my Zapotec, Nahua, and European roots. Through this embodiment I’m able to enter into deeper communion with my ancestors and the lands to which we belong. My favorite teachers have often been the more-than-human and I tend to gravitate toward environments where the human fabric is porous or absent. I am based at Arcosanti, an experimental city and project in central Arizona. I live surrounded by the High Desert animate with Cottonwoods, Coyotes, volcanic Rocks cloaked in Lichen, Ants, an ephemeral River and many more beings.

I consider my practice to be one of building kinship and deep listening with body and mind to the wisdom a place holds. My tools of exploration range from the “literal”, informed by placed based research, to a more abstract realm nourished by a rich and cherished dream world. Through dreams and a trance-play state I’m able to converse with that which is often overlooked by more traditional tools of inquiry. Through my practice I aim to further stumble upon awe, a rooted kind of freedom, and joy that invites others to play along.