Wow where to begin?

Yesterday I got the opportunity to have my work in a group show, curated by Keith “Kebo” Brown and Dr. Karen Hennessey, and it was an amazing experience! I chatted with the most interesting people and I got a good response to my work which gives me the warm fuzzies when I think about it! I am incredibly humbled by everyone that came out to support emerging artists, it really means the world to us!

Along with my work, the show featured the work of:

Aaron Whitehouse

Alberto Mier

David Huff

Esteban Patino

Todd Alexander

I didn’t take that many photographs last night, but here’s one (yes, ONE LOL) but I’ll probably have a link to more photographs in a few days or so. You can view the photographs that were featured in the show here.

I didn’t want to be That Artist who was snapping photographs at her own show (though I thought about it!).

I want to thank K2 (Kebo and Karen) for allowing me this opportunity! And their little dog too

Last weekend, I got to participate in the 2nd annual Worldwide Photowalk! That’s right, photographers all over the world convened on June 18 and walked, talked, laughed and photographed (Ha! Rhymed!). We got to shoot in Atlantic Station, which is a big deal because they NEVER allow cameras there (well…I guess if you live there, you’re allowed). Here are some of my favorite shots from that night:

While I was hanging out and shooting with a friend of mine, I made another two friends! Bella, an aspiring model and her photographer, David Sincere.

I think Bella will do just fine in modeling, she’s very pretty and was fierce in front of the camera.

I think these look like chess pieces!

Later that night, we set up our tripods and did a few long exposures. Both of these are quick edits, as I have a grillion dust spots on my sensor. No really, like a grillion

I had a really good time and want to thank SCAD’s own Judith Pishnery for being an excellent organizer

***

Oh yeah! Forgot to add! Duh! I recently launched my art website, and you can check it out here! Don’t laugh at my middle name, it’s my Mami’s first name (and my first is her middle name, creative, I know!). More about that in a day or so

When I was younger, my Abuela (we all called her Mamá Angelica, and I called her Mamá for short) watched over me during the summers from when I was about 4 through elementary school (I was a pre-school dropout, it wasn’t for me), and I can say hands-down, that some of my fondest childhood memories were with her. She didn’t speak much English, so it kept my Spanish sharp, and we had many an adventure those years. The last time I saw her was when I was about 12 or 13, and I was hoping that I’d one day get to go to El Salvador with my mom and visit her there.

Some of you who know me know that I also write (wrote! will write again!?) poetry. It’s been a battle trying to find the balance between the lens and the pen. My pages are usually left blank, because I’ve put so much focus on photography.

Until recently. A few months ago, I was moved to write this poem after a conversation with Mami:

It was you who first split my tongue
Blew smells of el campo into my nostrils
Pupusa, arroz con frijoles,
pepino, calabacín, elote, zanahoria, nopalito
Sopa de pescado, el gran ojo mirandome
Swimming among alphabet pasta

Me he despertado unas mañanas
Las mejillas mojadas con lástimas
Pensando que me ha dejado

Tortillas resting oiled griddle form burn birthmarks
like liver spots adorning your hands
flattening that very maseca into perfection

Tamed abursho into escova, then trenzas
Delantal catching my tears as the
comb wove its way through my tangles
me wondering
why my hair could not flow
like your silver river

Me he despertado unas mañanas
Las mejillas mojadas con lástimas
Pensando que me ha dejado

Radio Ah-Eh-meh 640 crackling
Alabanzas warbling from your throat
Smelling of Lísterina, that’s how I thought
God smelled

You affixing a velo on my head,
Bobby pins resting on the shelf of your pursed lips
Entrusting me with a pandereta during worship hour

Translating in the grocery store, 5 and on tiptoe
holding fast to check writing stand
Making eye contact with the cashier

Mama el cajero necesita veinte centavos

Isopropyl alcohol sweating your wrinkled belly
Worn from births, soft like velvet
Into it you sank insulin needles
I mirrored your wincing

The blood teardrop leaking onto the test paper

How I’ve inherited the shape of your fingers
And toes
and love for sweets
and heavy shuffle
Con o sin chancleta

Me he despertado unas mañanas
Las mejillas mojadas con lástimas
Pensando que me ha dejado

Mami says you have fallen
And your old bones cannot knit themselves well
You have refused food and drink
And I refuse to see you this way

Me he despertado unas mañanas
Las mejillas mojadas con lástimas
Pensando que me ha dejado

But I know it’s your mouth
forming besos instead.

–

Sunday, my father called me and informed me that Mamá Angelica passed peacefully in her sleep earlier that morning. And while I know that she is no longer with us on earth and my heart is a little heavy, I’ve made peace with the fact that her body will no longer be in pain. I’m glad that I got a chance to know her while she was around, and finally, I’m certain that she’s still here with us all.

Te amo Mamá.

(I have no idea why I have that expression on my face LOL)