Laima
In the past, we were animals and will be angels in the future. However, in the present, we are humans. Being human means having ideas in our brains and feelings in our hearts, but what shapes these ideas and emotions that so strongly define who we are? Through my exhibition, I explore and search for the aspects that define our humanity.
While living in a foreign country, I gained an outside perspective on my home country, Mexico. In this exhibition, I explore my cultural identity through various aspects such as traditions, spiritual beliefs, political ideology, and social norms. My art mainly focuses on mixed media, ceramics, and photomontage. Ceramics represent traditional craftsmanship, symbolizing the fragility of tradition. Through this medium, I aim to showcase and remind the audience of the parts of their culture that define who they are and why they believe what they do. Additionally, my photomontage work offers a social-political perspective of Mexico. I incorporated sewing and embroidery into these media to symbolize Mexican artisanal craft, which played a significant role in my life while living in Mexico. Specifically, I was closely involved with artisans and their work, and when I moved, I brought tenangos to decorate my new home. This experience has greatly influenced my pieces, particularly in Embroidered Kintisugi, where I drew inspiration from the color and technique of Mexican embroidery. My art aims to carry on the tradition and remind the audience who taught them to follow certain beliefs and ideologies, from spiritual to societal norms, while teaching certain aspects of Mexican society.
My exhibition is next to the main entrance, an essentially linear space divided into three main areas. The first space is a stone wall that displays Cargo, separated by the entrance from the rest of my work. The second space showcases my ceramic pieces, with a central window at the back. Here, I have placed Inverted Pyramid as an introduction to my entire body of work. The Pyramid is one of my earlier works and openly introduces cultural identity, which became the main focus of my work. The third part of the exhibition features display boards that show my photomontage work.
My exhibition centers around the mosaic piece Superstitions. Unlike any other piece in the exhibition, it is placed on the floor and can only be fully observed from above. This piece was inspired by Pedro Francas's work, a mosaic of habits people follow due to superstitions. It's a collection of beliefs taught to us and explains why we follow them, whether for good luck or to prevent bad luck. The piece includes superstitions commonly held, such as not opening an umbrella indoors, and some unique to my culture, such as placing a knife on the grass on special celebratory days to prevent rain. Martha Rosler's work inspired Windows, a powerful and symbolic piece in the exhibition. This large composition captures the viewer's attention by portraying different aspects of society, particularly femicide victims. The piece also includes Day of the Dead motifs and elements representing history, such as pre-Hispanic Olmec heads, and highlights issues like controlling the media and unfair incarceration.
To ensure visual and symbolic coherence, some pieces, such as Cargo, Embroidered Kintsugi, and the two Color Spirals, were modified to fit the space and bring visual and stylistic continuity with the use of threads taken from the artisan tradition familiar to me from Mexico. The cargo was mounted with an installation of threads, Embroidered Kintsugi threads were elongated out down the plinth, and color spirals were embroidered. These pieces connected my exhibition visually as their thread and colors attract the eye.
My body of work showcases the fragility of tradition and the significance of preserving cultural beliefs and ideologies through mediums like ceramics, photomontage, and embroidery. The main aim is to educate the audience about Mexico's social, political, and cultural aspects. The exhibition offers a nostalgic glimpse into Mexico's traditions and encourages viewers to reflect on their cultural roots and the influences that shape their ideas and emotions. Additionally, the exhibition explores the complexities of cultural identity, examining various facets such as traditions, spiritual beliefs, political ideology, and social norms. Viewers can better appreciate the diverse elements that shape their identities through the artwork.
Cargo (December 2023)
Photomontage, mixed media, chicken wire, paper, canvas, beads, yarn
40 x 30 x 1cm
Continuing my exploration of societal norms, I created a collage inspired by Tya Alisa Anthony's photomontage work. The piece features a gold driver silhouette set against silver figures encased in chicken wire, symbolizing the ongoing struggle against societal expectations in Mexico. The colors used highlight the mistreatment of marginalized groups, such as women. My work aims to invite contemplation around power dynamics and society's limitations. Furthermore yarn was added for the installation showing typical craft techniques in mexico
Inverted pyramid (December 2022)
Ceramic, oxides, and glaze
30 x 15 x 11 cm
Inspired on a bridge drawing. I became fascinated by the repetition of shapes and forms that could be achieved by stacking shapes. Because of this, I explored instances where this repetition occurred in architecture, specifically from my cultural heritage, specifically the Mexican pyramids, particularly those in Teotihuacan. I created my pyramid using ceramics to pay tribute pre-Hispanic Mexican culture, inverted step with a sphere atop, showcasing my perspective on the Pyramid of the Sun.
Embroidered Kintsugi (March 2024)
Ceramic, glaze, and thread
18 x 25 x 17cm
Inspired from the traditional Japanese craft of kintsugi, where broken pottery is repaired with gold. Similarly, this piece features embroidery, which alludes to Mexican artisanal crafts and highlights the importance of tradition in culture. The vase pottery work and the embroidery are symbols of handmade crafts placed together, inspired by Caroline Harrious’s work. This serves as a metaphorical reminder that tradition is fragile and hanging on by a thread; therefore, we must take care of it.
Superstitions (December 2023)
Ceramics and glaze
112 x 80 x11 cm
In this mosaic, each tile represents a different superstition. These habits exist by religious or cultural beliefs, from opening an umbrella indoors to stabbing grass with a knife to prevent rain on a special occasion. Using ceramics, this project combines traditional crafting methods with contemporary aesthetics, serving as a reminder of the stories behind these traditions and why we follow them. The material significance of ceramics helps preserve these superstitions.
The two Color Spirals (October 2022)
Acrylic on canvas and yarn
30 x 25 cm each
This artwork was inspired by James Turell's lightwork art features two paintings that contain circles of different colors. The paintings showcase increased tone of the colors used and were intended to be colorful, vibrant, and spiritual representations of the sun and the moon. During the installation i connected the two pieces with yarn stitching tgem together taking inspiration from frida khalos the two fridas for the piece to be more representative about my culture.
