Allowing Abundance

I was honored to have my work included in Remedios Sagrados. Artist and curator Suzy Gonzalez put together this powerful exhibition for Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival 2018.

Remedios Sagrados focuses on concepts of ancestral knowledge in relation to food, healing, spirituality, and the land. As the city of San Antonio celebrates 300 post-colonial years, these artists reclaim indigenous wisdom while recognizing the complexity of identity.

I carved 120 manos de nopales representing individual amulets, providing protection within the space.

Allowing Abundance
60 x 60 inches
wavy leaf prickly pear cactus
2018

photos by Suzy Gonzalez

LINDA ON MY MIND

Here are some process shots of Texas Bindweed helping me pay tribute to Linda Ronstadt and her eerie, heartbreaking song, Blue Bayou.

A Prayer to Santa Marta Dominadora

A Prayer to Santa Marta Dominadora

40 x 24 inches

dyed linen, vinyl, sequins, lace, cotton fabric, acrylic paint

2018

Right Here, Right Now: San Antonio at CAMH

CAMH - Right Here, Right Now: San Antonio

OPENING RECEPTION THIS FRIDAY 4/27!!! Lisette Chavez and I are so honored to have our multimedia installation, ANGEL BABY included in this exhibition at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston! Join us! 

"Right Here, Right Now: San Antonio in the Brown Foundation Gallery at CAMH from April 28–August 5, 2018. Showcasing 19 artists and artist collaboratives, Right Here, Right Now: San Antonio includes sculpture, painting, photography, drawing, ceramics, textiles, performance, and installation by a multi-generational cohort of artists. The artworks brought together in Right Here, Right Now: San Antonio attest to the richness of the city’s creative community. Rather than attempting to provide a generalized exhibition, Right Here, Right Now: San Antonio instead looks to cross-generational dialogues around notions of materiality, identity, and performativity. From paintings and unique stitcheries to immersive video environments, ceramic sculpture, and live performances, CAMH is pleased to expand the geographic scope of this exhibition series with a presentation of artworks by San Antonio-based artists."

Albert Alvarez

Richard Armendariz

Julia Barbosa Landois

Christie Blizard

Sarah Castillo

Lisette Chavez

Adriana Corral

Ana Fernandez

Audrya Flores

John Hernandez

Diana Kersey

César Martinez

Michael Martínez

Martha Mood

Katie Pell

Chuck Ramirez

José Luis Rivera

Daniel Rios Rodriguez

Saintlorraine

ANGEL BABY at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

SHE'S BAAAACK!!!!

Lisette Chavez and I are excited to bring our multimedia installation, ANGEL BABY to Contemporary Arts Museum Houston as a part of Right Here, Right Now: San Antonio. This exhibition will include 19 artists from SATX and opens Friday, April 27th. The show runs through August 5th. It's an honor to be a part of this group representing our beautiful city! The FB event page is below.

Opening Reception Right Here, Right Now: San Antonio at CAMH

Tejana

I am working with Texas bindweed (a native Texan flowering vine in the morning glory family) to create some jewelry meant to adorn my Tejana body and show reverence for the land of my birth.

Tex-Mex

Tejana

Texas Bleeding Heart Vine

More experiments in organic art are happening in my studio. While I wait for some other plant matter to dry out, I am focusing on this mujer.

This Texas bleeding heart vine bloomed once and was never really happy again. It struggled for a couple of years and died last winter. I kept the remains and something powerful is emerging. More to come...

Texas Bindweed

I have been gathering cuttings of vines native to Texas to use in a new series of work. Among my favorites, is Texas bindweed. It's in the morning glory family and produces tiny white blooms with red centers. I found this particular vine thriving in a concrete-asphalt seam.

As I explore my own identity as a Tejana, I am working with this vine to create a few pieces meant to be worn, to adorn. I'm interested in how our bodies are forever linked to the place of our birth as well as our ability to flourish in new and challenging environments. As I work with this plant and learn more about its characteristics, I am also examining my own body: a soft body, a large body, a strong body, a body that's housed another body, a fat body, a powerful body, a body that takes up space, a Tejana body, a body that creates, an aging body, an abused body, a loved body, a sexual body, a body that has survived, a living body, a woman's body.

Texas bindweed 

Convolvulus equitans

Click on the link below to learn more about Texas bindweed

www.wildflower.org

ILGWU Local 180

ILGWU Local 180

21 x 17 x 3 inches

fabric, lace, pins, paper

2018

In 1959, in San Antonio, Texas the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union - Local 180 organized a strike against the Tex-Son garment factory demanding a living wage increase. Strikers faced violent opposition at the hands of the Tex-Son Company and police. This included intimidation, physical force, and arrests. Union members, a majority of whom where Mexican-American women, used creative tactics to earn the support of San Antonio which was traditionally known for its anti-union sentiment. Some of these tactics were to fashion themselves in attire that was deemed “ladylike” and use rhetoric that was centered around their roles as mothers. 

San Antonio born Sophie Gonzales was instrumental in this garment strike and was the first Mexican-American woman organizer in the history of Texas for ILGWU. This strike, that lasted from 1959 to 1963, was the beginning of her 35 years of dedication to labor union organizing in Texas. This work pays homage to the tenacity of Gonzales and her sister strikers. 

Life and Death in the Garden

It has been a struggle lately to force my artwork into rectangles that hang flat on a wall. I feel a strong pull to create bodies that stand on their own. As I reflect on this, rethink previous boundaries, and open myself up to new ideas, I am also clearing out my garden to prepare for new growth. Spring cleaning all around! And right on cue, the garden provides (like always). As I cleared out old dead plant matter, these two forms emerged. I plan to experiment with them as the skeletons for sculptural work. I'm looking forward to a new direction.

philodendron trunk and roots

Texas bleeding heart vine and roots

Common Currents

I was invited to participate in the Common Currents exhibition at the Carver Community Cultural Center opening this Thursday, March 15th. Join us at the opening reception from 6-8pm. Please read below for more information about Common Currents.

Opening reception for Common Currents: 1918-1967 is an official San Antonio Tricentennial event. Opening night events will include visual art and performance works in the Jo Long Theatre. 


ABOUT COMMON CURRENTS
In celebration of San Antonio’s Tricentennial year, six downtown artist-centric organizations: Artpace San Antonio, Blue Star Contemporary, Carver Community Cultural Center, the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, the Mexican Cultural Institute, and Southwest School of Art, will partner to present an exhibition that will illuminate the 300 years of their hometown’s history. Common Currents is a diverse, encyclopedic showcase of San Antonio’s history as told and rewritten by more than 300 visual and performing artists, invited to participate by their peers, and presented over 6 venues.

Drawing on the connections or currents that run through San Antonio’s vibrant creative community, each of the organizing partners began by inviting two artists. These initial 12 artists were then asked to invite two peer artists, until more than 300 were amassed. All of the participating artists were assigned one year of San Antonio’s history on which to reflect in the development of their work for Common Currents. This exhibition is presented chronologically through a variety of contemporary media across the six venues.

Common Currents draws a portrait of San Antonio, by San Antonians. With the “chain letter-inspired” framework for the exhibition, each organization takes a backseat, letting the participating artists make decisions that may traditionally be the role of the organization or curator. This provides for an exciting presentation of artistic connections spanning our center city’s art venues. More information at commoncurrents.org



Please click on the link below for the Facebook event page.

Common Currents Opening Reception at the Carver Community Cultural Center

I was assigned the year 1959. The mixed textiles piece I have created focuses on the Tex-Son garment factory strike organized by Sophie Gonzales and the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union - Local 180 in San Antonio, Texas. 

This photograph of Gonzales accompanied an article about the strike in the San Antonio Light newspaper in 1959. Factory workers who opposed the strike threw dolls that resembled strikers at picket lines in an attempt at intimidation.

I created a portrait of Gonzales using bits and pieces of women's clothing and other sewing materials including pins and paper patterns. I look forward to sharing the final product as a part of this exhibition.

Books / Tools

Books are precious. I love to jump from book to book as my interest in a topic waxes and wanes. These gems are on my bedside table at the moment. In my artwork, I am currently exploring the serpent as a symbol in mythology, folklore, and my own dreams.

Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldua

Literary Witches: A Celebration of Magical Women Writers 

by Taisia Kitaiskaia and illustrated by Katy Horan

The Encyclopedia of Witches & Witchcraft by Rosemary Ellen Guiley

Design Motifs of Ancient Mexico by Jorge Enciso

The Art of Dreaming by Carlos Castaneda

Chicana Art: The Politics of Spiritual and Aesthetic Altarities 

by Laura E. Perez

Laura E. Perez discusses spirituality in Chicana art

Visiting Artist at SAY Si

Yesterday I had the privilege of presenting as a visiting artist for a group of talented young artists at SAY Si. I shared information about my background, artistic process, inspiration, and influences. I was also able to visit their amazing studio space to check out their ongoing visual arts projects. I loved discussing some of the themes in their artwork including peace, acceptance, self-love, and humanity. Thanks for having me! To learn more about the after school arts programs at SAY Si, click on the link below.

saysi.org

PROGRESS on a new self portrait

I have been working on a new self portrait that addresses healing. I was inspired by the imagery and attributes of both Santa Marta and Filomena Lubana as well as the symbolism of the serpent, which is a recurring symbol in my dreams. When complete, this piece will include vinyl, lace, sequins, fabric, pins, and dyed vintage linens. 

Mano de Nopal

My creation of these Mano de Nopal amulets is ongoing. I began making them years ago for my own home and now I am making them for others. They are meant to hang near a doorway in the home to ward off negative energies.

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

2017

leather and fabric

40 x 30 "

I was honored to be invited to show this mixed textiles self-portrait at Blue Star Contemporary's 27th annual Red Dot Art Sale.  BSC Red Dot Art Sale Catalog

Angel Baby at Lady Base Gallery

In 2017 Lisette Chavez and I collaborated to create a short film and installation entitled Angel Baby at AP Art Lab via Lady Base Gallery.

photo by Alma Hernandez

In the well know South Texas folktale, "El Camaroncito," a young woman goes out dancing at a local dance hall despite the disapproval of her parents. She is invited to dance by a handsome man. While enjoying dancing with this man, she suddenly looks down and sees that in place of human feet, has has a chicken foot and a cloven hoof. Knowing this to be the sign of the devil, the horrified young woman screams and falls helplessly to the floor. Frightened onlookers scatter and the devil disappears into the night leaving behind his victim on the ground and the scent of sulfur lingering in the air.

Angel Baby is an installation based on a feminist adaptation of this know folktale. By retelling the story with a  female protagonist, we challenge our viewers to consider the manner in which folklore reinforces societal expectations of women and gender related powers.

Check out our teasers put together by the amazing Craig Haddad.

Adda Montalvo of La Prensa did a great write up about Angel Baby. Click on the link below to read more.

Angel Baby Presenta Una Diabla Empedrada

We also had a great time discussing Angel Baby with Elda Silva of the San Antonio Express News. Click on the link below to read more.

Artist Give 'Devil at the Dance' Feminist Spin

Lisette and I also did a Q&A Session with Lady Base Gallery reina, Sarah Castillo. Click the link below to read more.

Q & A Sessions

"A Woman's Place Is..." at Centro de Artes

photo by Alma Hernandez

I created six pieces that came together for this installation at Centro de Artes in 2017. The multi-generational, all Latina exhibition entitled, "A Woman's Place Is..." was curated by Kathy Vargas. It was an honor to exhibit in this space with these women. Elda Silva of San Antonio Express News did a wonderful write up on the show. Please click on the link below to read more about it.

Latina Artists Claim Space

Mother, Artist, Wife, Teacher, Bruja, Quiet and Still
2017
mixed media installation

This body of work explores the different roles I play as a woman and how I protect, nurture, and honor my true self while tending to those duties. I find it crucial to find a sacred place within myself in which I can rest and regenerate. I am Mother, Artist, Wife, Teacher, and Bruja. I take this responsibilities seriously and fulfill them with great devotion; however, this often leaves me depleted. I need time and space to be quiet and still. I require it. And I deserve it.