My 1st Artist Talk Presentation
Let me first begin by expressing that I feel extremely lucky and immensely grateful for the support of long-time friends and those who I've met just recently. I was not expecting opportunities like these to come my way, especially in the way that they came. A few months back, I found out that my friend Carrie Lockwood, who had just begun working as a gallery assistant at the art gallery at El Camino College introduced my work to the director and curator, Michael Lewis Miller.
She felt that some of my work would fit into an upcoming exhibition that would run near the time of Dia de Los Muertos/Day of the Dead celebrations. This exhibition would be named "Aqui y Allá y Más," and would be on display from October 10 - November 3, 2022.
Carrie let me know that she had spoken to Michael and told me a bit about the plans for the exhibit, then a phone call with Michael was scheduled. After the phone call, an in-person meeting was had where I brought in the pieces that Michael had specifically selected to be shown in the exhibition. These were all pieces that he and Carrie had viewed on my website. All, except two had never been in a public exhibition. I thought the selection of work was curious. I speak a bit about why in my artist talk presentation.
"Aqui y Allá y Más" hosted sculptures, drawings, paintings, photography and more by local Los Angeles artists and international artists. Michael had been inspired by the memory of a past exhibit with the name "Aqui y Allá." In English, this translates to "Here and There." When I met with him, he explained that he wanted to present the viewpoints of people who could be called, or refer to themselves as Mexican-American, Mexican, Latino, Chicano, and Latinx. For people who fall under these labels, "Aqui y Allá" holds many meanings, most clearly, the feeling of being from here (the US), but also from there (Mexico).