A tourist in a dream

Xochi Solis
A tourist in a dream, 2022
Gouache, acrylic, house latex paint, colored pencil, Dura-lar film, digitally printed Epson paper, hand-marbled paper, colored paper, handmade paper, found images from books and magazines, artist tape, brad nails and rosary nylon cord.
94 x 144 in.
Courtesy of the Artist

The collages of Xochi Solis are constructed from hand-dyed papers, paints, plastics, and found materials. For this installation, she photographed NMSU’s ex-voto collection during her museum residency abstracting colors and forms in search of a celestial narrative. Mimicking the seemingly chaotic display of tin votive offerings as they traditionally appear in public sanctuaries, and through the gesture of “pinning” artwork onto the gallery wall, Solis embodies both the role of artist and supplicant. Solis’ arrangement highlights ex-votos’ original function as objects of devotional ritual, while her organic, layered collages extract formal elements from the traditional conventions of these paintings. The materiality of Solis’ installation informs the viewer of the inventive nature of Mexico’s most unique genre of painting. Solis’ approach to the Divine comes in the form of astronomy charts, nebulas, and the miracle of nature, a gesture that expands the universe of ex-votos’ spirituality to more inclusive and universal possibilities.

Los collages de Xochi Solis están construidos de papeles teñidos a mano, pinturas, plásticos y materiales encontrados. Para esta instalación, la artista fotografió la colección de exvotos de NMSU durante su residencia en el museo, abstrayendo colores y formas en busca de una narrativa celestial. Imitando la exhibición aparentemente caótica de ofrendas votivas de hojalata tal como aparecen tradicionalmente en los santuarios públicos, y mediante el gesto de "clavar" obras de arte en la pared de la galería, Solís encarna tanto el papel del artista como el de suplicante. En el arreglo de Solís destaca la función original de los exvotos como objetos de devoción y ritual, mientras que sus collages orgánicos extraen elementos formales de las convenciones tradicionales de estas pinturas. La materialidad de la instalación de Solís informa al espectador de la naturaleza inventiva del género de pintura más singular de México. El acercamiento de Solís a lo Divino se presenta en forma de cartas astronómicas, nebulosas y el milagro de la naturaleza, un gesto que expande el universo de la espiritualidad de los exvotos hacia posibilidades más inclusivas y universales.

Xochi Solis (b. 1981) is an Austin, TX-based artist sharing her studio time between Texas and Mexico. Her works include multilayered, collaged paintings constructed of paint, hand-dyed paper, vinyl, plastics, and images from found books and magazines. Solis considers the repeated act of layering a meditation on color, texture, and shape all leading to a greater awareness of the visual intricacies found in her immediate environment, both natural and cultural. During the summer of 2021, she was an invited artist of WRONG Marfa to participate in a pilot residency program in Marfa, TX. In 2016, she was an artist-in-residence at Pele Prints in St. Louis, MO, completing a series of monoprints that combined her painting and collage methods with a variety of printmaking techniques. Continuing to explore these printmaking techniques, she has collaborated on two editions with Shoestring Press in Brooklyn, NY in 2017 and 2018. Solis is one of 30 artists featured in the book Collage: Contemporary Artists Hunt and Gather, Cut and Paste, Mash Up and Transform (Chronicle Books, 2014) and one of 45 featured artists in the recent publication A BIG IMPORTANT ART BOOK (NOW WITH WOMEN): Profiles of Unstoppable Female Artists--and Projects to Help You Become One (Running Press, 2018)

Recent exhibitions include: Rooted by invisible means, Galveston Arts Center in Galveston, TX (2020); Remedies for a Generation: Xochi Solis & Rachel Levit Ruiz, Uprise Art (2020); Crawl into the shapes the shadow takes, WRONG Gallery in Marfa, TX (2018); Mujeres del Sur / Women from The South, The Union HTX in Houston, TX (2018); At Large: Part 2, Reyes Project in Birmingham, MI (2018); Shaped by Subtraction, BOX 13 Artspace in Houston, TX (2017); Mi Tierra: Contemporary Artists Explore Place, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO (2017. In addition to her studio practice, she is a board member at Future Front Texas and manages and spins records with the Austin chapter of Chulita Vinyl Club.