Entertain My Faith
Location
FA-203
Start Date
1-5-2026 1:10 PM
Department
Art + Design
Abstract
As an artist, my work explores how experiences with grief, migration, politics, and isolation have led me to question my culture and faith while still holding on to symbols and traditions as a part of my identity. While this narrative is difficult for me to explore, it has helped me shed light on the path one goes down after having experienced something traumatic or eye-opening. Through my paintings, I search for ways to depict those unspoken battles and those moments in which I questioned everything I was raised to believe in, in particular, letting go and trusting a higher power to take care of everything for me. This ten-piece series explores topics that have contributed to my resistance to letting religion play a role in my thoughts, decisions, purpose, and comfort. These pieces are in chronological order. My first piece is a portrait of my mother, who shared her faith and traditions with me, those she carried with her in her heart when she moved far away from her home country and passed along to me as she raised me. I go on to explore my earliest recollections of when I began to question everything I was raised to believe in to where I am now. Throughout my work, I reference my religious upbringing through Catholic items and Mexican symbols such as rosaries, marigold flowers, altars, bibles, and monarch butterflies. Working in a large-scale format allows me to emphasize these symbols, and I jump back and forth between oil and acrylic paints the same way I jump back and forth between honoring the beliefs my mother gave me while having an on-going battle with “turning to God” during hard times.
Faculty Sponsor
Nate Mathews
Entertain My Faith
FA-203
As an artist, my work explores how experiences with grief, migration, politics, and isolation have led me to question my culture and faith while still holding on to symbols and traditions as a part of my identity. While this narrative is difficult for me to explore, it has helped me shed light on the path one goes down after having experienced something traumatic or eye-opening. Through my paintings, I search for ways to depict those unspoken battles and those moments in which I questioned everything I was raised to believe in, in particular, letting go and trusting a higher power to take care of everything for me. This ten-piece series explores topics that have contributed to my resistance to letting religion play a role in my thoughts, decisions, purpose, and comfort. These pieces are in chronological order. My first piece is a portrait of my mother, who shared her faith and traditions with me, those she carried with her in her heart when she moved far away from her home country and passed along to me as she raised me. I go on to explore my earliest recollections of when I began to question everything I was raised to believe in to where I am now. Throughout my work, I reference my religious upbringing through Catholic items and Mexican symbols such as rosaries, marigold flowers, altars, bibles, and monarch butterflies. Working in a large-scale format allows me to emphasize these symbols, and I jump back and forth between oil and acrylic paints the same way I jump back and forth between honoring the beliefs my mother gave me while having an on-going battle with “turning to God” during hard times.