RESPAWN



Maritza Torres Sola Artshow
04.07 - 05.21





I was resting in my cocoon… Somehow recognizing the season for the first time. Settling into the dark.I imagined those I knew transforming. Safe in a shell of anonymity. Alone together, we lookinto our smoking mirror. A primordial connection has been made by syncing up with the seasonsin this way. Like Xipe Totec, “we shed our skin, experiencing spring for the first time in lifetimes.

*March brings us the Mexican New Year 10 Tochtli


*Xipe Totec: Mexica god referred to as our lord the flayed one, spring and agricultural deity. Curer of disease. Mexica gods were not literal interpretations but detailed representations of the natural cycles of the earth.




REAPARECER



Descansaba en mi capullo…por primera vez reconociendo la temporada. Instalándome en la oscuridad, imaginaba a aquellxs a quienes yo conocía, quienes en ese momento se transformaban, protegidxs por su cáscara de anonimato, solxs y a la vez juntxs miramos dentro de nuestro espejo humeante. Una conexión primordial se ha establecido sincronizándonos con las estaciones del año de esta manera. Como Xipe Tótec, *cambiamos de piel, experimentando la primavera por primera vez en nuestras vidas.


*Marzo nos trae el nuevo año mexica 10 tochtli.

*Xipe Tótec: Dios mexica a quien se le refiere como Nuestro señor el desollado, dios de la primavera y de la agricultura, curador de enfermedades. Los dioses mexicas no eran interpretaciones literales sino representaciones de los ciclos naturales de la Tierra.







Artist Statement


An artist is a time traveler, an umbilical cord, a connector and an interpreter. A lot of times I find the artist is allowed to move through mainy types of spaces. In 2020 connections meant community survival. These times have felt like a mirror showing us our true selves and the reality we live in. In some ways it was unsettling, in others affirming. I have never been more PRESENT, it was inescapable, it IS inescapable. Previously I would often think of ‘someday, and someone’. ‘Someday, someone should…’. In the worst moments of the pandemic It was always glaringly today and I was often the only one present. I took this to mean horrifyingly that maybe ‘someday and someone’ was not an effective mantra. Instead of romanticizing the future for myself and mulling over the past I should do something today. Under these circumstances I was forced to metamorphosis, as many of us did. Here in this grub like state I was able to let go of ego and outside influence. I am an unknown thing in an unknown time, that felt like a lot of space to grow. I blunder toward an unknowable future, some days its only a baby step. I connect as much as I can. I accept that there is no perfect way to decolonize. I time travel realizing I am creating my own codex. This show is a look into my cocoon, during these fluid times. I invite you to time travel with me as I follow my intuition and merge our current Spring with the Mexica Deity Xipe-Totec (Our Lord the Flayed One, a metaphor for the seed within its hull). Much of the materials used are natural and collected by hand in nature through out the US/ Turtle Island. Clay from Georgia, sandstone from Utah, Arizona Texas and California, ashes from the Azuza Fire. I am allowing myself to choose the earth, and to transition back into the eco-system with more self awareness within this show. I hope we can all make space to experience the rebirth of Spring in a new way in 2022, or 10 Tochtli (the rabbit), the sign of abundance and the moon, on our evolutionary journey.



Artist Biography


Maritza Torres is a Xicana Artist based in East Los Angeles/ Tongva Territory. She is best known for her graphic style and portrayal of the empowered woman. Torres grew up as the eldest daughter of a large Mexican-American Mormon family. Although her family is strongly bonded she herself is an Atheist. In 2001 she moved to LA to study at FIDM and graduated with her Associate's degree in Fashion Design. Maritza worked as a graphic designer but soon became disillusioned with the industry and embraced her real love, which was art. Torres has made a point to look for intersectional spaces to work with and make her work accessible to poc, queer and working class communities. She has had the pleasure of gaining support from the Latinx community in San Antonio in spaces like Pan Dulce, Esperanza Center and being featured in St. Sucia zine. In 2017 she was honored to share her sola exhibit ‘I think of you when I see the color blue’ at Espacio 1839 in the heart of the anti-gentrification movement Boyle Heights. In 2018 she came back to Espacio with a second show ‘Su Hija’. Since then she has featured work at Avenue 50, presented her work at Oberlin College and co-created the zine ‘Art History 101: Chingonas’ with Marissa Del Toro, which was picked up by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art gift shop. Her most recent zine is MAHMLCLXXO and her work can also be seen at Bar Flores in Echo Park. From 2020 to present Torres engaged in a more fluid and self care based work style. She made masks, worked collectively with WOC Collective on Huei Mictahuitli grief workshops, Painted the ‘BIPOC UNIDOS’ mural for Other books and donated works and time to various mutual aid groups. She hopes to forge ahead into a new realm of art unifying past, present and future. She shares that vision with the sola show at Pain Sugar Gallery ‘RESPAWN’ beginning April 2022.




FREE ADMISSIOn
12 PM - 7 pm WEEKDAYS
12 Pm - 4 pm SATURDAYS
CLOSED SUNDAYS


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