My womb es mi Altar is the latest show curated by Tracie D. Hall, owner and founder of Rootwork Gallery. Inspired by the writings of Chicana cultural theorist, Gloria Anzaldua and Anzaldua’s statement “I am playing with my Self, I am playing with the world’s soul”, the show delivers some expertly painted works by three Chicago-based Chicana artists: Gloria Gloe, Veronica Isabel Giraldo and Liz Gomez. Together, these artists guide the viewer into the realm of Latina politics, spirituality and sexuality and the overlapping of these issues and their requisite states of being. Also included is what poet and arts administrator, Robert Bedoya, calls “Rasquiache” an aesthetic of intensity that deals with the treatment of Latina women as “less than”; a state that is specific to the Latina experience. Rasquiache for Bedoya alters the “white spatial imaginary” and offers an alternative symbolic culture-one that is combinatory, used and reused. The paintings on display bear the weight of this treatment with remarkable ease and accessibility. Particularly strong are the works of Liz Gomez. The representational quality of her paintings belie years of practice as a figurative painter and present the viewer with hefty symbolism attributed to the subjects of her work. In regards to her process, Gomez states: “First I set my intention and then surrender into it. I express from a place of deep truth and vulnerability and it is acceptance, compassion, and courage I manifest into my work for all to access.”
Spencer Hutchinson
My womb es mi Altar is on display from December 2018-February 2019.
Volume 33 no 4 March / April 2019