Exhibition Description
Under the Same Moon considers the sacred ability of land to hold time, space, and memory. Drawing from Tejano symbolism, this body of work explores the elemental qualities of the Texas landscape, occupying the threshold between day and night, remembrance and presence. The sun setting and rising, the moon's glow, and birds moving between land and sky are mundane yet constant moments that reveal the quiet magic of the world around us.
Artist Statement
In my work, I examine the ordinary and mundane of everyday life, intertwining memory and space to craft a new narrative in each painting. The memories I draw from can be simultaneously joyful and melancholic, tender and distant, or hopeful and hopeless. I explore the beauty of the mundane, celebrating ordinary moments tangled with complex narratives and a sense of belonging to a larger community. Rooted in my identity as a Latina woman from Texas, my work is embedded with references to family, religious symbolism, and the landscape of my upbringing. Through my work, I explore my family’s history through the lens of Tejano culture and the South Texas landscape. This narrative is important to the places and memories my paintings inhabit. I explore family dynamics from 1st- to 4th-generation Mexican Americans and the meanings behind the rituals and labor of each generation within the Texas landscape.
I consider my past narrative, selecting what holds personal and shared significance, creating a timeline of my life as I see it in the present. This can result in blurred timelines and events, reshaping my perspective and helping me to reconcile with the past in a new light. Rituals, both daily and ceremonial, play a pivotal role in my exploration. I consider the symbolic rituals performed in the context of a celebration, tragedy, or crisis, as well as the rituals we perform to strengthen ourselves and the relationships around us, such as sharing a meal, lighting a candle, or taking a walk.
Through my paintings, I am processing and rediscovering the past in a new way through the intimacy and tactility of mark-making. My work begins with digital drawing and collages capturing my everyday life, serving as both subject matter and documentation of time. From these digital images, I pull pieces of subject matter and marks through drawing on the surface of the canvas. The drawing is emphasized and expanded through thin washes of paint. The process then becomes about hanging these earliest moves in balance with the material that is built up over time. Slow meditative sewing is contrasted by rapid automatic drawing and painting. The final image reflects the complexity of these narratives through contrasting materials, marks, and colors, elevating the ordinary into an image that communicates the significance I place on each memory. The presence of digital marks and vibrant hues emphasizes the influence of digital space in my process. Each work presents a bittersweet narrative where I examine the complex circumstances that have brought me to a specific moment in time. Through this process, I embrace gratitude, growth, and the enduring power of memory.