Angelica Raquel: Spirit Epoch

Angelica Raquel

SPIRIT EPOCH Cecily E. Horton Gallery FEBRUARY 26, 2022 – MAY 14, 2022

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

“When I was young and surrounded by family, our favorite ritual was storytelling. We gathered around a fire, or sometimes just sat outside in the dark, and took turns telling local lore, myths, and legends.”

– Angelica Raquel Born and raised in the border city of Laredo, TX, Angelica Raquel uses narratives rooted in folklore, familial storytelling, and her personal experiences to shape a new body of work for her exhibition Spirit Epoch. This exhibition centers the artist’s rediscovery and exploration of the familial folklore of her childhood through an immersive installation of needle felt sculptures, textiles, and watercolors. In Raquel’s storytelling, she and her loved ones become characters in animal form. She describes how the work is “a conduit to investigate tales of morality and the soul. Each story navigates its own path to realizing the importance of relationships and their continued hold, even after death.” Raquel’s introduction to storytelling came from her late grandfather who she shares is “a man utterly connected to earth, nature, and Spirit.” His stories would hold Raquel in suspense as a child and, since his passing, she has taken up the mantle of a storyteller, allowing herself to relive these magical memories through her artwork.

Raquel explains, “Using these very special moments in my life, my own epochs, I’m reinterpreting my experiences to reflect on my own thoughts about the clashing of culture, society, and the relationship between humans and animals.”

Angelica Raquel

Jacinto Jesús Cardona

Born and raised in the border city of Laredo, TX, Angelica Raquel draws much of her inspiration from her upbringing and the culture she grew up in. Using narratives rooted in folklore, familial storytelling, and her personal experiences, Angelica investigates ideas of morality and the soul. Her use of animal imagery has a dual purpose of representing a personal loved one, herself, and the animal.

Jacinto Jesús Cardona is a San Antonio, TX, poet who grew up in Alice, TX, the Hub of South Texas.

He is the author of Pan Dulce, a poetry book that celebrates his Tex-Mex experience. His poem “Bato Con Khakis” was selected for performance at the New York City Symphony Space. He is a Voz de San Antonio Poetry Champion, and his poetry is documented in Voices From Texas by San Antonio filmmaker Ray Santiesteban.

Cardona teaches English at Incarnate Word High School.

Based in San Antonio TX, Angelica works as an Educator and Artist.

Her love of nature and animals constantly influences her multidisciplinary studio practice, which consists of fibers, sculpture, painting, and drawing. She earned a Masters in Fine Arts from The University of Texas at San Antonio in 2020 and a Bachelors in Fine Arts from Texas State University in 2016.

Weaving dreaming tufts of fiber venerable venados tufted ears in touch with spirits of the land mixing media reviving los tesoros de mi abuelito recurrent dreams quejidos ripping seams la curandera benevolent stitch versus la bruja bewitching stitching turning scorned lover’s kisses into hechizos a hex over sex spills over into a grrraple of grrrowling gatos a cosmic brrruhaha yin and yang infernal fang fair is foul and foul is fair cats have nine lives a stitch in time saves nine y los coyotes yip-yip matching wits with los rancheros los tecolotes haunting el monte hoohoo hoo hoo la lechuza cruising rancherías toda la noche her screeching chutzpah terrifying la raza cósmicaing y las tunas las tunas de nopal y la luna la luna allá está la luna comiendo sus tunas echando las cáscaras en la laguna Adiós Webb County Texas Adiós ghosts of el San Miguel Ranch Adiós mi axis mundi mi época espiritual hilos y tejidos por los siglos y los siglos amen

Mission Lawndale is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center that engages Houston communities with exhibitions and programs that explore the aesthetic, critical, and social issues of our time.

Supporters Lawndale’s exhibitions and programs are produced with generous support from The Anchorage Foundation of Texas; The Brown Foundation, Inc.; David R. Graham; The Joan Hohlt and Roger Wich Foundation; The John M. O’Quinn Foundation; The John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation; Houston Endowment; Humanities Texas and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the federal ARP Act; Kathrine G. McGovern/The John P. McGovern Foundation; The National Endowment for the Arts; The Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation; The Rose Family Foundation; the Texas Commission on the Arts; The City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance; and The Wortham Foundation, Inc. Additional support provided by Lindsey Schechter/Houston Dairymaids, Saint Arnold Brewing Company, and Topo Chico.

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