Chains Of Opulence Lavishing My Queen, My Grandma, Reserved & Content / Cadenas De Opulencia Prodigando A Mi Reina, Mi Abuela, Reservada Y Contenta, 2023

is a continuation of the work from my solo show last year, “She Breathes in Dirt and Exhales Flowers / Mejor Sola Que Mal Acompañada.” The show was a celebration of my grandmother, a celebration of her artistry — her ability to sew, to be a seamstress — in combination with my art, which is photography and the flowers that I gave her over a two-year period. While creating the show, I had access to outfits that she bought and made. I put the clothes that she made on mannequins, and I filled the mannequins with flowers. When I was making the work for the show — even though I didn’t know I’d have a show at the time — my grandma was still alive. During that year, and after I got the opportunity for the show, my grandma died. And so the work changed in its meaning — it turned into me putting flowers that I gave her while she was alive back into a body that was no longer alive, to give it life. I had different pieces that were in relation to her identity. I had a very large cross made out of steel; I had a very large rosary made that was about 100 feet long. This piece that I made for Image is the other aspect of her personality that she never really got to express but that I’ve been able to express through ownership of my Latinx identity, which she never really did. I had all her names made out of a very thin, mirrored steel. And then I got a purse- and belt-grade chain from a handbag manufacturer hardware store; I used to be a production manager before I was an artist, before I was disabled, so I had all this access to people working with steel, people working with fine jewelry, to make the piece. I got all my grandma’s names made: Gloria, Ernestine, Romine and Hernandez. These are all the names she had throughout her life…..

[you can read more https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/image…]