Urban Release is an exhibition of three-dimensional forms investigating the evolution of feminine identity and the impact of civilization. Cultural history and memory as process inspire my work and is designed to encourage dialog about the transformation that occurs when connecting with the wisdom of ancient instinct, especially through daily domestic experience.
Influenced by Xicana feminist authors like Cherríe Moraga, Amalia Mesa-Bains and artists like Margaret Sosa, Olga Ponce Furginson, Yreina D. Cervántez, Celia H. Rodríguez, Kara Walker and Lee Bontecou, I create to offer something meaningful to future generations. The contemporary use of papel picado and silkscreen printmaking in my work began as an aesthetic choice and progressed as a ‘force for re-membering.’ These sculptures, or what Laura Pérez would call altarities, commemorate the history of our ancestors.
URBAN RELEASE
2015 (front view) silkscreen and acrylic on oil cloth 84 x 45 x 45 in.
2015 (back view) silkscreen and acrylic on oil cloth 84 x 45 x 45 in.
2014 (front view) silkscreen on oilcloth 94 x 45 x 45 in.
2014 (detail-front view) silkscreen on oilcloth 94 x 45 x 45 in.
2014 (front view) silkscreen on oilcloth 85 x 45 x 45 in.
2014 (back view) silkscreen on oilcloth 85 x 45 x 45 in.
2014 (front view) silkscreen on oilcloth 74 x 45 x 45 in.
2014 (back view) silkscreen on oilcloth 74 x 45 x 45 in.
2014 (front view) silkscreen on oilcloth 46 x 46x 46 in.
2014 (back view) silkscreen on oilcloth 46 x 46x 46 in.
2014 (front view) silkscreen on oilcloth 43 x 46 x 36 in.
2014 (back view) silkscreen on oilcloth 43 x 46 x 36 in.
2014 (back view) acrylic transfer on oilcloth 36 x 42x 42 in.
2014 (back view) acrylic transfer on oilcloth 36 x 42x 42 in.
2013 (front view) photocopy on handmade paper 24 x 36 in.
2013 (front view) photocopy on handmade paper 24 x 36 in.
2014 (front view) mixed media: handmade paper with layers of gesso and acrylic. The side panels are balsa wood. 10 x 24 in.
2014 (back view) mixed media: handmade paper with layers of gesso and acrylic. Side panels are balsa wood. 10 x 24 in.
My process is cerebral, instinctual and intentional. When my maternal grandmother passed away in 2006, I inherited her photographs that were taken in Mexico City circa 1930. While appropriating and gathering meaningful connections to these antique family photos, I used a selection of materials that compliment a domestic narrative or inspire self-reflection and mystery. I followed my intuition, or what Gloria Anzaldúa refers to as La Facultad, when responding to each photograph, noting any areas that provoke thought or feeling.
This body of work involves a series of intricate, photographic cut-outs manipulated into dramatically lit and suspended sculptural objects. The negative spaces in the work represent history that is forgotten while the shadows embody unknown layers, signifying universal secrets. The shadows produced are like the mysteries and terrible truths within and around us, revolving and adapting, reflecting their surroundings; an allegory of the darkness that lies within us. These objects float like enduring memories carrying an emotional stillness, filled with mourning and quiet celebration via the question: how do we want to be remembered?