Ixchel
- 60 x 18 x 1 in
- Analee Fuentes
Curator's Choice Award
Collage on canvas - Not for sale.
For years, I have used collage to inform aspects of my painting practice. I love juxtaposing images one against the other and much like an exquisite corpse, playing with the possibilities of new and often surprising narratives. I find myself more open to experimentation through the easily manipulative media of collage.
Growing up in Southern California, my most treasured book was titled "Almost Ancestors, The First Californians." Even as a young child I was enchanted by the beautiful portraits in that book. Being an indigenous person myself, I have held many of those images in my mind's eye as icons of dignity, strength and power. Indeed, the women in my family mirrored many of those faces and the stories they reflect.
"Ixchel" came about effortlessly after a trip to Quintana Roo with my daughter. We were on the Island of Women (Isla Mujeres), a site dedicated to the Mayan goddess of birthing and medicine. Being there with Erica and reflecting on my own matrilineage was a potent experience, and one that seeded many creative beginnings for me.
- Created: 2022