On May 4th I set off from the great city of Palmview to Brownsville for the "Where Seeds Bloom" celebrating the work the new artists taking residency. This new residency was "to give access to contemporary art practices to the lower Rio Grande Valley." This included 9 artists from the 956! Those artists being Marc @prince_p3ach, Alejandra @44waterlilies, Violet @eyes_of_amalthea, Natalia @witch_bunny, Jonathan @pescadolls, Ivan @ivanmflores.art. Allan @gindic_arts, Mariana @glutenisfree, and Karla @t0y4ev3r
I think it's a pretty cool idea having this new program "flower buds" housing local artists, a space for local artists to flourish and bloom all in theme of the flower shop. Although the flower buds session is currently over...I do wonder on what the residency has in store.
While at the reception I got to chance to see the art work from the artists that were there that night, I heard artists speaking about their work and I got the opportunity to speak to a few artists as well. Each artist really conveyed their stories, interests, and personalities through their own "contemporary art practice" of their choosing.
This is for you, Marc! I told you I was going to be there >:3
Let's be real this post isn't about my experience walking around looking at cool art, but about the artists and their experience being a flower bud resident. I first want to give thank you for the time given to me by the artists to speak to them. The artists were Jonathan, Natalia, Mariana, and Karla. Here's what they had to say!
This is Jonathan Hernandez @pescadolls he shares on what interested him on applying to the Flower Buds residency "What interested me was only was it a collective in the valley, but it was something that as familiar to me...it was real home like very graceful." Now Jonathan continues to mention that he was working with clay, the material due to Fabian and this is where it lead to him meeting Jesus, Jesus is the individual who runs "the space, the program, email, social media, etc in a director role with the help of Cecilia Sierra, who helps a ton as a sort of producer and program coordinator." In words from our Flower Shop interview.
Jonathan expresses his experience with the residency by saying " It was very 'familiar' and what I mean by that it reminds me of growing up in Reynosa. I did spend a lot of my youth over there with my grandparents. I would be there frequently. So being over here, it felt super familiar. The essence. Being close by Mexico." As Jonathan mentions this, it brings me back to his piece, working with clay. Digging the soil, in touch with his "roots" his "ancestry" in the art, the practice of using "raw materials."
On the topic of art work created, the practice he involved himself in he says " I'm showing the progress of a process that I am connecting to. So, the raw materials are very important. In processing that physically too. I basically spent my time here. Um, Just like, uh, connecting to my materials. So um, I went around with the flower shop to like the beach or the Osaka, it's like nearby and I got to learn how to like look for clay property, properly. We found some good deposits, we found wild clay. I'm using wild clay, raw materials because there's a connection that I want to Inhibit in my work. With ancient iconography. Ancient practices. So, processing raw material is like vital." With that I say "almost ancestral perhaps?" leading to Jonathan to continue ecstatically "Yeah, I think that ancestral. Yeah. dude like an ancestral Spirit. That's like kind of calling that 'this is worthy' or 'this is valuable to do in life'. So the practice starts becoming more about just living. Yeah, just living with your materials or something, you know I mean I'm still figuring it out too." The way Jonathan exclaimed "I mean I'm still figuring it out too", but this was allowed through the opportunity of the Flower Buds residency, a chance to discover and learn about "wild clay" about foraging your raw materials, to be in touch with your ancestry in creating. A practice worthy of his time and a valuable lesson in the arts and in what the earth provides for oneself I'd say.
With his final comment being " Places like the flower shop are necessary. Yeah. A community. We're all looking for strong connections in general."
Here we have Karla @t0y4ev3r as she shares what interested them in applying for the residency "I had just recently, graduated and I recently moved to Fort Worth. Right as I was leaving I applied for the cohort that they were having in March. Well, I didn't get in, but then I got an email in February and they were like, 'you should do the flower buds!' I thoughts to myself that's crazy y'know. It's just really special to me to. I'm from here and I recently moved, you know, and I think it's just really validating to be accepted to a residency from my hometown. I'm not from Brownsville, but I'm from the valley. It's hot like I just graduated and they told me to apply for residencies and I feel like why wouldn't I apply to something from like where I'm from, you know? It's hot that I got in, that's crazy because I feel like I'm pretty, there's a lot of artists here, I was really grateful for the opportunity." I did not know that Karla moved away so it was surprising to me! When I think about it, it's such a sweet invitation back home. An invite back home to create with other artists underneath the same roof. In the words of Karla, "that's hot."
I continue by asking Karla how her experience has been at the residency " It's been a beautiful time, it's a beautiful home, it's a beautiful place, it's historical, it's a flower shop, you know, It's beautiful. So far I can't even put it into words, how fortunate I am to be here. I really can't." I certainly don't know how many applicants there were for the Flower Buds residency, but congrats to you and everyone. I'm glad Karla sees the beauty in community, sharing an art space, seeing what their hometown has begun to offer to it's people. It truly is beautiful, huh?
Karla, could you describe to me the piece you've been working on while you were here while you've been here? "Yeah. So originally I was gonna do ceramics but they don't have a kiln here, so me and John, went to go get his kiln on the first day. On the second day, we were really trying to fire it. We had like a mini explosion, it was like really bad, like, so I was like, fuck it. I'm just gonna paint. I don't consider myself like a painter, you know? But I, I work on a lot of things. I don't show people, so I was like, okay, I'm gonna just finish this painting that I started in December and it was just the underpainting. So I brought it and I was just like, okay, fuck it gonna try to do it with the days that they allow me to stay here." Karla continued to share with me on how this piece they created is very "personal." They expresses that while being non-binary and with the portrayal of themselves in their work that the painting speaks to the viewer. What do you see in the painting? What do you think?
This is Natalia @witch_bunny before we begin I'd like to share that Natalia is an artist that came from Matamoros. Raised in Brownsville, but actually growing/living in Matamoros as she explains "Yeah, I'm from that type crowd, those kids that would wake up at 3 a.m to go to school." The residency gave her a "break" from crossing back n forth as she laughed softly.
Reminds on what Jonathan said about his youth in Reynosa with his grandparents. It also reminds me of how I spent a lot of my time growing up in Reynosa. Living there in the summer, holidays, every weekend. I find it interesting how we can relate or connect with such things.
Now we begin. Natalia shares on her interest in applying for the residency "Well I always found it interesting. I already followed Jesus via social media and I've seen his work as well. I have a have a friend, her name is Mae and she was a one of the first residents here and she encouraged me to participate. So why not give it a shot."
And what has been your experience here at the residency? "Being here, partaking with the residents, the artists just being together. I really enjoy it because I, I'm just a girl. I have like things to do. I have work, but right now it's just like, we need to do this. When they announced the residency, um, I was like I want to play my old job so I can like so I can be free and do art again and I was like are you ready residency? Even though I didn't get in the previous residency, but I was very excited to start doing art again because I feel like I have so many things to say." She stopped for a moment and continued by saying "y'know that a lot of people feel very left out and don't see themselves. I know I feel very alone with these emotions, but I know I'm not alone. I'm old, I'm consciously aware, but in the inside, I feel real. So I was like, very aspired to know people that have some similar backgrounds, have different perspectives in life and and that helped me broaden my Horizon on what I can do as an artist."
Could you explain to me a little bit of like your art section that you have here today? "Yes. I have four paintings. I have two little heart wooden panels. They're of my puppies. The first one is published "my mush baby." A couple months ago, I had a friend that rescued these puppies. They were just a couple of days old and my friend asked 'could you help me out with these puppies?' and well I was devoting my life to this little creature. Pets give a lot of unconditional love, and I was like, oh, it's fair to like, try to help out this little creature and give the best quality of life as possible at the end the puppy didn't end up making it. Even through this moment I still remember them with lots of appreciation."
"The other one is called 'a little princess' which is my dog right now who is also a rescue. At the time I was not wanting another dog because I recently lost the puppy, but I gave it a shot. Now she's my world, she's my baby, she's my everything. When it comes to my puppy paintings there is a representation of motherhood within these pieces of work. I do see myself as a caretaker of a little life. While some folks invalidate this, it's okay." I have friends who put their love onto their fur babies, they share their accomplishments or stories their pets have done as a mother would speak about her babies first steps. I remember seeing my friend nurse their kitten and help it work on its swimmers syndrome and now it's like walking like a champ! The things we do for our loved ones, the care we put to those who are our everything.
"I have another painting called 'locked porque te quiero mucho' or 'tqm.' I was kinda relating it to like past relationships that I had with people. With people that I had to put parts of myself and discard them to be able to be loved or be cared for, but at the end it doesn't last. I experimented with this one due to the embroidery, using a lot of different techniques, color palettes. They're very different from what I'm used to. I'm used to doing pastels and very soft colors. While it is a feminine perspective and it's a very hard topic, that this time I put in a little 'slice of life', more realism, to step away from being an illusion."
"With my final piece, my biggest piece it's called 'Pagan Lipstick' and the original concept of this piece was the criticism of beauty standards that we have for ourselves. When I took photos of myself for reference, I looked at them and thought to myself 'I do not look like that or like my mind did not process that. This is my body and my body has changed from the last time I remembered. Obviously you can't control time, your metabolism and life. I was pretty shocked by the imagery leading me to flip the narrative on this one. Instead of discussing 'I'm ugly' and these downgrading emotions that we constantly tell ourselves in the mirror. I wanted to revert it to where I already think of myself very highly, I look so beautiful in the mirror, and at times even being the 'prettiest in the room' or having a full face of make up and then looking at the pictures. Looking at the photos and thinking 'I do not recognize this picture. Why do I look so ugly? This is not me.' I try to do a lot of my imagery through my mood because I feel like the emotions I have are very deep within. People don't want to talk about these emotions, these relationships, the changes that happen. I just feel like I have to speak up." With the idea of beauty standards and how we "should" look like is commercialized everywhere we go. We can't forget that even the sight of ourselves can trigger the most unwelcoming thought, but it is up to us to see the beauty in our curved nose, our smile, our eyes, and marks that are spread throughout every inch of our body. It may be difficult, but y'know it's crazy. Someone loves us, loves these "flaws" that makes us who we are as a person, loves the freckle we hide away, and even the "hideous" laugh we keep to ourselves. It's the things that make us who we are, make us as individuals and its REAL.
Any final comments "I'm just disappointment that it's already ended, it's like damn I just really want to stay and just do this, but no life is just too hard. I'm just a girl."
The final artist I spoke to was Mariana Prado who goes on to share what interested them in applying for the Flower Buds residency "I was part of a residency a couple years ago, but it was in Upstate New York and it was a really great experience, but it was a very long time away from home. The residents here at the flower shop are more local. It's still an hour away from where I live in Hidalgo. Before applying I had been working a lot and I didn't really have a lot of studio time. So I really wanted a space where I could really build and focus on my art and kind of start that up again because I felt like I have been neglecting my practice." From a New York Residency to a Residency close to home, Mariana shared a roof with other valley artists all practicing their artwork, trying new ideas, and creating bonds with one another. While a week or so isn't a lot of time, there is time to be had in exploring what's been "neglected." Happy to know that Mariana has had to opportunity to flesh out her ideas during her residency.
Mariana continues by sharing on what she worked on during her stay " so the main big drawing that I did. I had started that drawing a couple years ago. So that piece I had already started prior to the residency but it had a lot of fun results got me. I didn't know quite how to finish it or where to take it from there. While I was here I was able to experiment with what that piece could be. What helped me a lot as well as the critiques we had as a cohort and it was really nice to get feedback from other artists since I've been looking at this piece for years at this point.
Through this I was able to merge my more illustrative narrative work with installation textile sock sculptures which is something I feel I have struggled with before. I have had very separate practices and now I've worked into merging them together." With mentioning two different practices. I'm thinking back to previous exhibitions and I think before I would be one or the other. I believe it truly did merge beautifully with the main piece and Marianas corner of the room where she had her other pieces. The white and blue, eye catching.
Mariana includes one final comment as she says "if you have the time to come over to Brownsville and visit the flower shop, I absolutely recommend it. It's such a beautiful community."
Now for some extra photos I took at the exhibition!
The work of Natalia @witch_bunny and Ivan @ivanmflores.art.
Work by Alejandra @44waterlilies
Work by Marc @prince_p3ach
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