I am so happy to be showing paintings with the amazing artists of Familiar Endeavor, curated by my amazing friend, Ariel Davis at Artspace111 in Fort Worth, TX. For more information click the link right here.
Description of Paintings for ARTSPACE111 Familiar Endeavor Exhibition OCT17-NOV30, 2019
Bordering Hope, 86x73 inches, oil on canvas, 2018
The light pink rectangle stands as a wall in Borderlandia. The wall is decorated with drawings of marks and designs that mirror those found in the landscape. Both the wall and the landscape are lined by shades of blue, yellow and silver emphasizing the idea of boundaries. The markings outside the wall represent the land that interrupts these boundaries. The repeated short dashes in contrasting color against the repeated lines are an effort to map, render, organize a complicated land. Two hearts are painted in the middle of the wall. One heart is shaped like a human heart and represents the compassion I have for the people of the borderlands. The second heart, outlined in red, represents love and gratitude for my family who instilled pride for my Mexican-American heritage.
Fencelines (For Rogelio Muñoz), 86x73 inches, acrylic on canvas, 2019
The brightly colored rectangular marks in yellow, blue, pink, red and orange represent fence lines. When I was painting this piece I thought about fences that obstruct our view and fences that we can see through. I thought of the vast landscape of Uvalde, Texas where I grew up. This painting is for my Uncle Rogelio Muñoz who taught me how to look at the landscape with my heart. Once, when a family member asked what I would do with an art degree, he spoke for me, “She’s going to get her studio and she’s going to make art!”
Border Dogs (BDOG), 63x63 inches, oil on canvas, 2017, (framed)
Two border dog heads (one blue and one white) float in front of a wall in Borderlandia. The wall is painted in red, blue,and yellow marks. The wall is a painting of a wall in Borderlandia. “Never Be Lonely” Text outlines the outer right side of the canvas. The ground that the painting is supported by is made from smaller pieces of scrap canvas sewn together to make a large square. A target and a bone are drawn on the lower right hand corner of the wall. The painting is titled, signed and dated: 2017 AMMO BDOG.
Pink Chispas, 46.5x39.5 inches, acrylic on canvas, 2019
This painting was made with a few rules. I chose to use one brush size to make many marks that follow one radial shape or pattern. Keeping these things consistent allows me to explore the possibilities of color. The pink color scheme is a reference to my grandmother and the pink clothes that she wore, the pink bubble gum she gave us, the pink cake she loved, and the pink roses in her garden. This painting is a reflection of my energy and the energy exerted when a spark is made. Chispas is a word for spark.
To Barbed Wire, 47x40 inches, acrylic on canvas, 2018
Growing up in a rural town in southwest Texas, I remember the barbed wire fences that lined the ranches along the highways. This painting was made to reflect on barbed wire and its uses in the history of Texas. In 1913 the US Government militarized the US/Mexico border using new advances in technology which included barbed wire. The King Ranch was the first ranch to be fenced with barbed wire in the nineteenth century. The ranching empire maintained a staggering two million acres of land at its peak and maintained property across several counties. In 1914 the US government detained Mexican refugees, forced them to build a prison camp that stretched across 48 acres of land. The camp was surrounded by an intimidating barbed wire fence, stacked ten-strands high and secured to the ground by hog wire fence. Some reported that electricity charged the barbed wire fence with a lethal current. The painting is made with several grids. It is a night painting of a landscape and it is a picture of barbed wire. The bright marks are painted in between dark purple marks. The grids make horizontal color blocks from top to bottom in purple, red, yellow, blue and orange. There is a grid of orange over the entire painting like there is a grid of dark purple. Only one kind of mark is made to make the painting.
The End Of The Fence At Night, 29.5x25.5 inches, acrylic on canvas, 2018
This is Borderlandia at night painted in a monochromatic green representative or evocative of border patrol green and the color of mesquite leaves. This painting renders a fence ending in Borderlandia;where the light green hits the dark green, mid-painting. This painting has four grids, three of them are complete. It was made seated in contemplation of southwest Texas. Night brings rest. In Borderlandia fences end and you may cross what nearby is a boundary. It is the place where hope meets horror in Borderlandia, hope that you don’t have to struggle to cross this boundary. It also shows the vulnerability of the fence as boundary in Borderlandia. Vulnerability is often not available to many people living in southwest texas because they are always made to believe you must be strong to endure the hardships that come with living in a militarized land. I practiced vulnerability in making a painting with my back to the world.