SURFACE: Emerging Artists of NM 2022

SUrFaCE emerging artists of new mexico JUNE 13 - JULy 28, 2022 HArWooD ArT CENTEr 1

SUrFaCE emerging artists of new mexico

Harwood Art Center June 13 - July 28, 2022

Curated by Helen Atkins, Jordyn Bernicke and Julia Mandeville

COVER: Thomas Bowers, Childlike Behavior, House paint and crayons, 4’x4’, 2022; Pages 5-6: SURFACE: Emerging Artists of NM installation, image taken by Aziza Murray

Harwood Art Center is pleased to present SURFACE: Emerging Artists of New Mexico and Childlike Behavior by Thomas Bowers. SURFACE is an annual juried exhibition, endowed awards and professional development program presented by Harwood Art Center, to support the creative and professional growth of emerging artists and to expand their visibility and viability in our community.

We have received hundreds of noteworthy submissions over the nine application cycles to-date; as of this year, the program has served 117 exceptionally talented, committed artists, including the 11 we accepted for 2022.

This year’s SURFACE exhibition in Harwood’s Hall Gallery features Vanessa Alvarado, Abdiel Beltrán, Lauren Crowder, Eva Gabriella Flynn, Luke Graham, Cortney Metzger, Audrey Montoya, Jade Norris, Sam Snell, Alex Streeper, and Diego Villegas.

Each year one artist receives the Harwood Art Center Solo Exhibition Award, presented for artistic excellence, originality of vision and dedication to practice. The selected artist works for a year with support from Harwood staff to make a new body of work to exhibit the following year during our SURFACE Emerging Artists program at Harwood. In SURFACE 2021, Thomas Bowers received the Solo Exhibition Award and this year, is showcasing his new work in the Front gallery.

SURFACE is open to individuals working in any media and from diverse creative fields, including drawing, painting, printmaking, jewelry making, fashion, design, architecture, digital media, etc. We encourage submission of new and /or experimental works. Harwood takes a broad approach to “emerging artist,” and applicants are asked to self-identify with this description. Applicants must be currently living, working and/or studying in New Mexico.

SURFACE enjoys a seven-week exhibition in Harwood Art Center’s Hall Gallery throughout June and July. SURFACE artists also participate in a private day-long professional development workshop.

Workshop sessions are led by professional artists, gallerists, public relations / communications specialists and local media, and focus on refining artist statements / written materials, developing a web and communications presence, audience and collector cultivation, as well as a group walkthrough and critique of the exhibition.

Harwood has a generous community of supporters, funders and partners. With support from the Urban Enhancement Trust Fund, New Mexico Arts & National Endowment for the Arts, and the McCune Charitable Foundation, we are able to present the SURFACE Emerging Artists of NM Award & Microgrant of $250 to each of this year’s artists.

In many ways, SURFACE reflects the diversity and authenticity that is unique to New Mexico.

Our creativity is an integral component of our collective identity, and each year a cohort of artists is selected for the program, representing our ever evolving and expanding creative community. The 2022 SURFACE: Emerging Artists of New Mexico exhibition is especially abundant, reminding us of the integral position and power artists have to reflect, and reshape, the times.

Abdiel Beltrán captures a sense of freedom in his abstract plein air paintings. His work feels both tightly controlled and in continuous movement - framing the unpredictable with intentionality. The result is a soft protest that sparks his viewer’s minds freely, with no dictation. Vanessa Alvarado echoes this liberation with her emphatic self portraiture. She commands the viewer’s attention with impeccably painted figures in positions of provocation and power. Alvarado uses the canvas as space to reconcile her own identity and relationship with her body - a conversation that is ubiquitous and inviting for the viewer to see themselves in.

With wearable beadworks, Alex Streeper creates pieces that are both regal and relatable. The delicacy of her technique and vibrancy in materiality come together to create radiant reverence. Diego Villegas imbues his paintings with a similar sacredness, combining religious iconography with secular imagery. Referencing mysticism and judeo christian tradition, he reinvents divinity, celebrating queer identities and exalting queer experience as human experience.

Luke Graham confronts his own crisis of faith with black and white photography that is raw and magical all at once. His subjects reflect his own search for truth as they engage with objects of machinery and witchery, attempting to communicate with the beyond. Sam Snell teeters on the edge of reality and the surreal with his immensely detailed and alive paintings. He moves from landscape to figurative subject matter effortlessly, reflecting both real places and physiological ones. Snell builds a bridge between natural scenes, and internal experiences, creating work that can feel serene and unsettling all at once.

Audrey Montoya creates wondrous monsters with her lush rugs and mirror. Her larger than life works spill into the gallery, encapsulating feelings from joy to fear. Their grandness is welcoming - inviting the viewer to feel and experience their tactile quality. Beautifully, the rugs capture the immense emotion that inspires them. Jade Norris compresses ferocity, thunder and rage in intimate photographic self portraiture. Her series Disquiet is both a personal and societal catharsis as Norris pushes back against patriarchy. Lauren Crowder embroiders female figures with strength and vulnerability. Her unique painterly fiberworks pay tribute to notions of women’s work, and her portraits feel like an ode and offering to matriarchy.

The nuances of place and identity are examined in Eva Gabriella Flynn’s interdisciplinary works.

Her maps and flags link personal narrative to political policy as she investigates her own experience of immigration and living in the borderlands. She balances these heavy themes with whimsy, inviting her audience to reconsider and reclaim the aesthetic, and function, of national identity. Cortney Metzger also considers place and person hood in her sculptural pieces and video performance. Her work is inspired by her heritage and personal experience, and is deeply resonant to anyone who lives on the margins and intersections of identities. Her performance is evocative of cleansing, and her ceramic pieces appear as relics of this ritual. Together, she connects physical form to place, time, and land.

Thomas Bowers’ solo exhibition Childlike Behavior reminds the viewer of the deeply human instinct of mark making. His combination of large scale works on canvas, small sculptural pieces, and drawings that break containment and jump onto the walls, transform the gallery. At moments his work is contained and edited, in others explosive and expressive- reminding the viewer to reconnect with their younger selves. Though his first solo show, the installation feels like a retrospective as Bowers honors the origin of his artistic identity and childhood impulse to create.

SURFACE: EMERGING ARTISTS OF NM PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP We have endless gratitude for our insightful & generous panelists who shared their experiences & knowledge with our 2022 SURFACE cohort. The dialogues offered a supportive space of connection, centering inspiration, and nurturance to grow.

Featured Panelists & Session Descriptions: SURFACE Alumna Introduction, Inspiration & Storysharing Jami Porter Lara, Artist + SURFACE Alum Shaping Artistic Identites, Narratives, Communications, Platforms & Pathways Nancy Zastudil, Writer, Curator, Art/Artist Advisor, Editor - HyperAllergic, Zahra Marwan, Artist, Illustrator, Author, Nurturing Artistic Resources, Opportunities, Engagements & Communities Adrian Gomez, Writer, Arts - Entertainment - Features Editor - Albuquerque Journal Reyes Padilla, Artist Exhibition “Walk Through”, Compliment & Insight Session with Closing Circle Sherri Brueggemann, Division Manager - City of Albuquerque Public Art Urban Enhancement Trust Fund Program Katya Crawford, Artist, Designer, Professor + Chair - UNM School of Architecture & Planning Christopher MacQueen, Artist, Artistic Design & Production Manager - MeowWolf + Surface Alumni

VANESSA ALVARADO

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Page 6-7: Vanessa Alvarado, Viéndome Comer/ Watching Me Eat, 2021, Oil on Canvas, 30″ x 24″ x 2″ Page 8: Vanessa Alvarado, Emplumar/ Growing Feathers, 2022, Oil on Aluminum Panel, 20″ x 16″ x 0.125″ Page 9: Vanessa Alvarado, Mi Cuerpo Contra Mi/ My Body vs. Me, 2022, Oil on Wood Panel, 24″ x 18″ x 1″

Vanessa Alvarado has had a career in the arts for 16 years, creating public art in the form of tile mosaic murals with ALMA, a non-profit she co-founded. In 2011 she received her BFA in Studio Art: Painting at the University of New Mexico. She was born, raised and lives in the South Valley of Albuquerque. In addition to working for ALMA, she also works as a full-time art and SEL high school teacher, has her own ceramic earrings business and was also the Art Director for the South Valley Marigold Parade for four years. Her first love was painting and she is now allowing herself to indulge in it again. She believes that art is the perfect vehicle for teaching, uniting, and healing. Healing is a personal focus in her oil paintings because she believes if we cannot heal ourselves, how can we ever hope to help heal others.

For as long as she can remember, Vanessa Alvarado has struggled with her weight.

Being Mexican American, she has felt like she was part of two cultures that held a certain canon of ideal expectations for the female form; none of which she fits into.

Like so many people, she has experienced sizeist bigotry, unwarranted comments on her body, and has felt like her body is against her in many ways. Some people find her work shocking or uncomfortable to look at but this reaction gives viewers a taste of the discomfort she has felt in her own body, her entire life. Her paintings are an attempt at moving into a place of self-compassion, love, and appreciation. www.instagram.com/i.m.perfect_art 9

ESSENTIALLY, VANESSA ALVARADO IS ATTEM PAINTING INTO A PART OF HER LIFE SHE HA

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MPTING TO TRANSFER HER GREAT LOVE FOR AS NEVER BEEN ABLE TO LOVE: HER BODY.

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ABDIEL BELTRÁN

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Abdiel Beltrán, Wondering Matters, 2019, acrylic and pastel on canvas, 30” x 40”″ Pages 14-15: Abdiel Beltrán, Keep On Changing, 2022, acrylic, charcoal, graphite, pastel, watercolor on canvas, 30”×40″”

Abdiel Beltrán (b.1996) is a first-generation Mexican American artist. In 2021, they received a BFA in Studio Art from the University of New Mexico. Beltrán currently lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and works in their studio at the Harwood Art Center.

Beltrán’s work primarily consists of non-representational imagery and utilizes painting as a form to interrupt everyday life. His search to find an interruption is enhanced when he leaves the studio and paints in natural spaces. He recreates and re-screens layers of paint and often finds himself wanting to translate what it means and looks like to “let go”.

For example, painting non-figuratively en plein air allows him to experience a sense of liberation – typically manifested as gestures and letting the subtleties of the details matter.

This process creates a dialogue between letting go while developing the tangible characteristics of painting through layers of marks, color and re-worked imagery. The results document a relationship between the restrictions that come from ordinary life and pushing boundaries as a form to find a sense of freedom within. He invites the viewer to not search for a narrative but to be curious instead. www.abdielbeltran.com

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ABDIEL BELTRÁN OFTEN FINDS HIMSELF WAN AND LOOKS LIKE TO “LET GO.”

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NTING TO TRANSLATE WHAT IT MEANS

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Lauren Crowder, In Intimacy, In Fire, In Sin, 2020, embroidery thread on weavers cloth, 42”″x 32”

LAUREN CROWDER Lauren Crowder was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and recently got her BFA from UNM. She is a driven person who’s very family oriented, and found a love for community based arts through an apprenticeship granted by the Harwood Art Center.

Lauren finds joy in the soft, lumpy, squishy, and complicated things in life; her favorite being her dog Norbert.

“I’m interested in creating emotional artifacts like the crochet blanket on the back of your grandma’s couch. However, these emotional objects are not passive, they present the female figure in power. I’m walking a fine line between what is fine art and what is craft. This tension is expressed by the vulnerability of the female figure while also using the traditional female crafts of quilting, crochet, and embroidery. My work explores the complexities of the female experience through the female figure, and shows a passion for the dedication to craft and creation.” - Lauren Crowder www.instagram.com/lcrow71

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LAUREN CROWDER’S WORK EXPLORES THE COMPLEXITIES OF THE FEMALE EXPERIENCE THROUGH THE FEMALE FIGURE.

Lauren Crowder, Under the Purple, 2021, embroidery thread on weavers cloth, 48”″x36” Lauren Crowder, In Intimacy, In Fire, In Sin (detail), 2020, embroidery thread on weavers cloth, 42”″x32”″

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EVA GABRIELLA FLYNN

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Eva Gabriella Flynn, Flag for No Man’s Land I, 36” × 60”

Eva Gabriella Flynn is a Mexican-American multidisciplinary artist exploring feelings of belonging in relationship to history and storytelling. The narratives driving her work are shaped by the experiences, histories, and political policies of the US/Mexico border region. Flynn is from Las Cruces, NM, where she attended New Mexico State University and received a BFA in Studio Arts and a BA in Foreign Languages. She received her MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a concentration in Painting and Drawing. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums nationally and internationally including: Field Projects Gallery, New York, NY; the Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL; SITE Santa Fe, NM; the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Milwaukee, WI; Museo del Ferrocaril, Santa Barbara, Chihuahua, Mexico; and Instituto de Lorenzo Medici, Florence, Italy.

In her memories, she is four and agents have separated her from her mother because they cannot see their resemblance. She is questioned and wants to go home, but doesn’t know which direction to go.

Today, Flynn’s work exists in this liminal space at the border between these two countries. Her work is intuitive and multidisciplinary, depicting the abstracted experiences of a Mexican-American woman through maps and flags from an imaginary revised history of the US/Mexico Border.

Flynn’s maps are drawn on handmade amate paper, weaving personal memory and historical characters into the desert landscapes. Each flag has been dyed, printed, embroidered, and sewn an act of defying borders and reclaiming identity. Weaving personal memory and historical characters into the desert landscape, she charts both the physical and psychological spaces of the Borderlands with nostalgic tenderness. www.evagabriella.com 21

WEAVING PERSONAL MEMORY AND HISTORICAL CHARACTERS INTO THE DESERT LANDSCAPE, EVA GABRIELLA FLYNN CHARTS BOTH THE PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SPACES OF THE BORDERLANDS.

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Eva Gabriella Flynn, Flag for No Man’s Land I, 36” × 60”; Eva Gabriella Flynn, Map for the borderlands, 15” × 23”; 21.5” x 29.5” framed; Eva Gabriella Flynn, Map to find your way home V, 15×23 inches; 21.5” x 29.5” framed, Aziza Murray & Harwood Art Center All Rights Reserved

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Luke Graham (b. Portland Oregon) is a photographer in Albuquerque, New Mexico with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University. His interest in physics and math lead him into a career as a Test Engineer, in which he examines phenomena that can’t be seen with the human eye.

In his engineering work, he has developed a receiver system to read signals from satellites, a motorized antenna that sweeps through ion fields in a vacuum, and a thermal chamber that simulates the temperature cycles of a satellite orbiting the earth.

Graham has been focused on creative narrative photography for over eight years. His artistic intentions were sharpened as he transitioned through a crisis of faith. Having been devoutly religious, he took a new look at reality when his core beliefs were no longer trusted. His art became a tool to sort through his new priorities and reevaluate Truth. www.lukegrahamphoto.com

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LUKE GRAHAM

Luke Graham, Fig Tree, 2021, Photographic Print, 12″x 18″

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AS LUKE GRAHAM’S FAITH WAVERS, HE HAS REEVALUATED THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION OF “WHAT IS REAL?”

26 Luke Graham, Water Witching, 12”″x 18” Photographic Print; Luke Graham, Ears to Hear, 2021, Photographic Print, 12”″x18”″

Devout in his beliefs, and engaged in his church community, Luke had centered his life around theology. As his faith wavers, he has reevaluated the fundamental question of “What is real?”

In his photographic series Physics, he reframes his spiritual understanding in the context of physics and math. The phenomena predicted by these scientific theories are too subtle to be seen directly. For example, time dilation, or the slowing of time, is predicted by Einstein’s work on relativity. While time dilation has been proven true in complicated experiments, one does not encounter these effects while driving a car or riding a bike. In this work, Graham has exaggerated the effects of these phenomena to use them as the setting for a narrative.

By combining his background in science with his new outlook on spirituality, he is creating a new, personalized canon.

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CORTNEY METZGER

Cortney Metzger, Ceremony, 2018, White Stoneware and Underglaze, 17”″x 20”; Cortney Metzger, Traditions, 2018, Local Indigenous

28 Clay, Traditional Pit Fire, 17”″x 20”, Aziza Murray and Harwood Art Center, All Rights Reserved

Cortney Metzger is a mixed media artist living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She received her Bachelors of Fine Arts in ceramics from Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri in 2016. She recently completed her Masters of Fine Arts with an emphasis in ceramics at the University of New Mexico in 2020. Cortney is of Osage decent and spent her summers growing up on the Osage reservation in Oklahoma. Drawing themes from her heritage, Cortney works in many media including video performance, textiles, and raw clay materials harvested from the lands sacred to her and her people.

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CORTNEY METZGER’S WORK FUNCTIONS AS A BRIDGE WITHIN HERSELF TO THESE REMEMBERED AND FORGOTTEN PLACES.

Cortney Metzger, Lake Shore (details), video performance, 2019;

30 Cortney Metzger, Blood, 2018, Terracotta, 17” x 20”, Aziza Murray & Harwood Art Center, All Rights Reserved

Cortney Metzger spent her summers growing up on the Osage reservation in Oklahoma learning the traditions of her people. A way of life that has influenced how she navigates the world and her artistic practice.

Drawing from and inspired by my heritage, Metzger works in a variety of media, including video performance, textiles, and raw clay materials harvested from the lands that are sacred to her and her people. She uses her body to explore these ideas of identity and creates a visual language that conveys the sense of duality that she experiences.

Metzger’s work creates a conversation for people who are also in the in-between with her. She’s interested in how the human body can be compared to a vessel and how that relates to culture and tradition.

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AUDREY MONTOYA Albuquerque based artist, Audrey Montoya has been making monstrosities for the past several years. These monsters are created in reaction to the current state of everything; that bad hair cut she had in the 8th grade; and the way lucky charms are slimy and crunchy at the same time. These monsters take the form of anthropomorphic clouds, drooling wolf rugs, or digitally informed analog paintings. Realistic detail and cartoon abstraction make unsettling yet relatable monsters. Audrey received her BFA in studio art from the university of New Mexico.

Humorous, surreal, and sometimes exasperated monsters are realized through traditional and non traditional painting and fiber techniques. These pieces are created from virtually collaged physical and digital ephemera reformed into analog objects. Montoya’s monsters represent the extraordinarily mundane; motherhood, loss of identity, grocery shopping. The work lives at the convergence of decorative object and hallowed fine art. A middle ground filled with realism and graphic abstraction. She takes cues from memes, because she wishes her work to be humorous and cathartic. These aforementioned monsters arise with a confused yawn via watercolor, acrylic, wool roving, or yarn. Or some ungodly combination of all five. www.audreymontoya.com

32 Audrey Montoya, self portrait in purple, 2022, acrylic yarn and rug glue, 120”″ x 36”

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AUDREY MONTOYA’S MONSTERS REPRESENT THE EXTRAORDINARILY MUNDANE; MOTHERHOOD, LOSS OF IDENTITY, GROCERY SHOPPING.

Audrey Montoya, ugly mirror, found mirror, acrylic yarn and rug glue, 67”″x 26”; Audrey Montoya, self portrait in red, 2021, acrylic yarn and rug glue, 43”″x 63”, Aziza Murray and Harwood Art Center, All Rights Reserved

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JADE NORRIS Jade Norris is a photographer and commercial editor who calls the desert home.

She’s a mother of two wonderful girls and finds herself enraptured by their creations and the paths they’ve carved through the world. She’s a firm believer in the magic of sunsets, a good poem and green chile smother. She enjoys finding beauty in common things and making messes of them wherever she goes. If you find yourself on a winding trail of overturned dirt, photos and feral creatures, you’ll likely find Jade at the end.

Jade uses photography to bring the viewer into her emotional state. In this project she creates ownership of the complexities of a raw emotional state.

The desolate background provides the landscape in which she bears down and brings about what has been buried inside. What is seen in this project is the depths of feelings that arise from traversing the world where importance and appearance is only as useful as deemed by others; where one is expected to quiet themselves and take up less space. This project screams back at all of those notions and leaves behind a trail of presence and being known. www.eyeamjade.com

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Page 35: Jade Norris, Disquiet 4, 2022, Photograph – Metal Satin, 8”″x10”; Pages 36-37: Jade Norris, Disquiet 3, 2022, Photograph – Metal Satin, 6”″x10”; Jade Norris, Disquiet 2, 2022, Photograph – Metal Satin, 15”″x 9.5”; Jade Norris, Disquiet 1, 2022, Photograph – Metal Satin, 15″x9.5″″

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THIS PROJECT SCREAMS BACK AT ALL OF THOSE NOTIONS AND LEAVES BEHIND A TRAIL OF PRESENCE AND BEING KNOWN.

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SAM SNELL Sam Snell (born 1999), is an artist living and working in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Snell attended the University of New Mexico for his undergraduate studies, and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with honors in 2021.

When painting both in the studio and out in nature, Snell enjoys traditional techniques of imprimatura, glazing, and impasto. The deep blues of sky and distance, along with viridian and acidic greens, are recurring colors in his work.

Snell’s work draws from nature and the human figure in order to create narratives that speak on the collective experience of belonging to a body, place, and time. He works primarily in oil paint on a large scale, and relies on personal iconography and Classical influences to impart the beauty and brutality of life and instill in others an awareness, tenderness, or gratitude for the landscapes that shape us. His current body of work (which relies on consistent walks in nature and frequent plein air studies) explores how increasing one’s attention in a given space yields an increase in what is perceived, rendering a new reality.

As new characters are introduced into the landscape of his life, Snell analyzes new patterns of attention and puts them into various bodily forms, revealing the landscape of the Self and the fears, longings, and beliefs that inhabit or defile it. www.sams1193.wixsite.com

Page 40: Sam Snell, Aztec The Tantalizing Colors Beneath Our Wishes, 2021, oil on canvas, 48” x 36”, 2021; Page 42: Sam Snell installation, Aziza Murray & Harwood Art Center, All Rights Reserved Page 43: Sam Snell, The False Shapes of Evil Before Hungering Eyes, 2022, oil on canvas, 48”″ x 36”

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SAM SNELL ANALYZES NEW PATTERNS OF ATTENTION AND PUTS THEM INTO VARIOUS BODILY FORMS, REVEALING THE LANDSCAPE OF THE SELF. 42

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ALEX STREEPER Alex Streeper was born and raised in Baja California, Mexico. She’s the cofounder of ArtWalk Santa Fe, a recurring outdoor arts and crafts market providing local and emerging artists with an open space to sell their products and get exposure to the Santa Fe community. She specializes in embroidery arts and beading, and sells her creations under the brand Alita’s Mexican Curios.

Originally from Mexico, Alex Streeper’s embroidered and beaded jewelry takes inspiration from the diverse regions of the country – from the beautiful motifs of the tapatio dresses in the Jalisco region, to the colorful plumage of the Aztec dancers and the subtle color variations of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts.

Alex learned to embroider back in Mexico while attending Catholic school in her early years. She learned the basics of beading on her own when she was in elementary school, but it wasn’t until the pandemic hit that she was able to dedicate time to perfecting her art and combine both techniques into larger wearable pieces. She is currently planning and developing larger decorative pieces that incorporate her jewelry techniques.

Guided by the storied process which emerges, she forges connections contained within traditional tools and materials and a conversation is sparked between the maker, material, and process. Through her work she asks – What draws us and guides us? What do we align with? Where do we go from here?

www.etsy.com/shop/alitasmexicancurios

Alex Streeper, Aztec Feathers Embroidered Necklace, 2021, Embroidery, 5.5”″x 9”″

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THROUGH HER WORK ALEX STREEPER ASKS: WHAT DRAWS US AND GUIDES US? WHAT DO WE ALIGN WITH? WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

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Alex Streeper, Princesa Black and Silver Beaded Necklace, 2021, Beading, 7.5”″x11”; Alex Streeper, Aztec Gold Embroidered Necklace, 2021, Embroidery, 3.5”″x 6.5”; Alex Streeper, Sirena Beaded Necklace, 2022, Beading, 5”″x6.5”, Aziza Murray & Harwood Art Center, All Rights Reserved

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DIEGO VILLEGAS Diego Villegas was born and raised in Albuquerque New Mexico in a Hispanic, Roman Catholic household. To say he was self taught would erase the profound impact of having a very creative family, a wonderful art teacher who became a cherished friend, and all the people who surround him and inspire him to follow his own path. Diego’s work is influenced by the traditional Spanish Colonial style of painting, as well as Orthodox Iconography. His style shifted toward a modern, more graphic use of line and shape through the influences of Illustration and Graphic Design.

The work of Diego Villegas is informed by the conglomeration of religious tradition, sexuality, and the occult; it is an attempt to address the desperate need for seemingly opposing ideals to coexist in order to create a more vibrant and enriching understanding of the world. He takes secular symbols and makes them sacred, and his work represents the ordinary through the lens of adoration and unquestioned worthiness. Diego is able to gently take sacred symbols, and make them more accessible in an indirect yet familiar way. Through his work, he strives to be a builder of bridges, creating spaces where many viewpoints may have a seat at the same table. www.diegoprobablydesign.com

Page 47: Diego Villegas, Eight of Wands, 2021, Acrylic and Gilding on Canvas, 36”″x24”; Page 48-49: Diego Villegas, Los Tres

48 Reyes Magos, 2021, Acrylic and Gilding on Canvas, 36”″x36”; Diego Villegas, I Am, 2022, Acrylic and Gilding on Canvas, 36”″x36”″

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DIEGO VILLEGAS’ WORK REPRESENTS THE ORDINARY THROUGH THE LENS OF ADORATION AND UNQUESTIONED WORTHINESS. 51

CHILDLIKE BEHAVIOR thomas bowers

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“MY GOAL WITH THIS SHOW IS TO PRESENT A BODY OF WORK THAT EMPHASIZES STRUGGLE AND RESILIENCE” “Growing up had its ups and downs, but family and friends made it easier at times.

The title of the show ‘Childlike Behavior,’ is a clear representation of my adolescence.

I believe that our upbringing as children does not define who we are. Being in touch with your younger self is critical because our conscious loses sight of what is significant and fills it with ‘more important information.’ As we get older, we are forced to gain new experiences and knowledge, adulthood makes us lose sight of who we are. I believe that everyone should reconnect with their inner child. The way children see the world is pure, and finding a sense of belonging and comfort in a space is crucial. My goal is to shine light on those who have faced adversity.” - Thomas Bowers

Thomas Bowers, Childlike Behavior installation; Thomas Bowers, Man in blue suit, House paint, 3’x2’, 2019; Thomas Bowers, Yellow Ball, oil pastels, 2021, Aziza Murray & Harwood Art Center, All Rights Reserved

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From public installations to produced pieces, Thomas works in a wide range of mediums and styles, including representational, illustrative, and abstract work. Heavily influenced but he loose and expressive line work and techniques found in expressionism. Thomas devotes a significant amount of time to painting, drawing and learning. Experimenting with the concept of lines, scribbles, composition, and color. He also plays around with human, animal, and monster characters. He has developed a strong sense of individual style and communication through his artwork. Using primarily oil pastels, ink, house paint, watercolor, and colored pencils. Thomas’ art is complete when it is being viewed, the meaning is determined by you, the viewer. He finds beauty in the different perspectives of each person. There are no boundaries that limit his work or academies that taught him a specific way of doing things.

Thomas began drawing out of a desire to simply create.

Pages 54 & 55: Thomas Bowers, Childlike Behavior installation; Thomas Bowers, Self Portrait Box, Acrylic, house paint and oil Pastels, 24”x16”, 2022; Thomas Bowers, Yellow Ball, oil pastels, 2021; Pages 56 & 57: Guardian Angel, House paint, oil pastels, soft pastels, 4’x5’, 2022, Aziza Murray & Harwood Art Center, All Rights Reserved

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EACH YEAR ONE ARTIST RECEIVES THE HARWOOD ART CENTER SOLO EXHIBITION AWARD, PRESENTED ANNUALLY FOR ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE, ORIGINALITY OF VISION AND DEDICATION TO PRACTICE. THE SELECTED ARTIST WORKS FOR A YEAR WITH SUPPORT FROM HARWOOD STAFF TO MAKE A NEW BODY OF WORK TO EXHIBIT THE FOLLOWING YEAR DURING OUR SURFACE EMERGING ARTISTS PROGRAM AT HARWOOD. THOMAS BOWERS RECEIVED THIS AWARD IN 2021 AND THIS YEAR, SHOWCASED HIS NEW WORK IN THE FRONT GALLERY.

Thomas Bowers, Childlike Behavior installation; Thomas Bowers, Essence of Expression, House paint, oil pastels, soft pastels, 4’x8’,

60 Aziza Murray & Harwood Art Center, All Rights Reserved

Thomas Bowers is a self-taught artist from New Mexico. He has been creating art since he was a child. He spent a lot of time drawing castles and monsters when he was eight. When he was 14, he resumed drawing and painting. Thomas’ family was going through a difficult time at the moment. Thomas would take his mother’s tattoo book and start drawing from it as a form of escape. He was overjoyed at the prospect of sharing his work. Thomas grew increasingly interested in art during his senior year of high school. Thomas has always been committed to improving his skills, learning new techniques, and gaining knowledge from the artists that most inspire him. Nearly 15,000 pieces of work have been done by Thomas. In 2019, he co-curated a solo show in Taos, New Mexico, and was recently awarded a solo show in 2022 at the Harwood Art Center. www.instagram.com/stellanthomas

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HArWood ArT CENTEr 2022 eXHIbITioN cALeNdAr

JANUARY 18 - FEBRUARY 24 The Artists of ArtStreet, Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless ArtStreet, an outreach program of Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless, presents: ArtStreet Unmasked, a collection of work that asks the question “what does it mean to be unmasked?”.

MARCH 7 - APRIL 14 ENCOMPASS: A Multi-Generational Art Event Featuring two indoor exhibitions, Splish Splash featuring Caitlin Carcerano & Charis Fleshner and re)conceive - works of reclamation an exhibition that deconstructs and reconstructs notions of social order featuring Lindsey Brenner, Jami Porter Lara, MK, Linda Montagnoli, Kei and Molly Textiles, Margarita Paz-Pedro & Robyn Tsinnanjinnie.

Encompass is Harwood’s annual event that is both a reflection of and an offering to our community.

APRIL 25 - JUNE 2 Divination of self: Robyn A. Frank A collection of work seeking to imagine, to divine without assuming an outcome, rather — to perform as a meditation on the interconnectedness of self and surrounding.

Bodies of Evidence: Toni Gentilli In Bodies of Evidence, artist Toni Gentilli renders visible the entanglement of human and environmental health, specifically the disproportionate impacts of autoimmunity on women and other chronic conditions linked to ecosystem degradation, and invokes healing through a compendium of naturally dyed textiles, weavings, paintings, sculptures, chlorophyll prints and botanical hydrosols.

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(Top to Bottom): Robyn A. Frank, Dreaming, lucid and otherwise, acrylic paint on wood panel, May 2021; Toni Gentilli, Fruiting Bodies, pigments made from cottonwood catkins with mold, graphite, ochre, and charcoal on cotton rag paper, 2021; Caitlin Carcerano, Tender, oil on canvas, 2021; XuanNhan, Lions Portal, acrylic, 2021

JUNE 13 - JULY 28 SURFACE: Emerging Artists of New Mexico Harwood Art Center’s annual juried exhibition, professional development and endowed cash awards program honors emerging artists currently living and working in New Mexico.

Childlike Behavior: Thomas Bowers Solo Exhibition Winner of our 2021 SURFACE: Emerging Artists of New Mexico.

AUGUST 8 - SEPTEMBER 15 UFO Daydream: Adrian Pijoan A UFO crashes in the desert, is retrieved, and brought to Harwood.

Holy Land: Diego Medina Diego will explore mythologies surrounding the theme of the Holy Land and create maps that transform New Mexico history into cartographic always fantasies that highlight some of the major paralleled between other historical lands and the sacred land of his home state of New Mexico.

SEPTEMBER 26 - NOVEMBER 3 Residency for Art & Social Justice Harwood’s Residency for Art & Social Justice is dedicated to feature and support artists working at the intersections of creative expression and social justice.

For the occasion of Harwood’s 30th Anniversary, we are offering and formally establishing our first official seven month residency program.

DECEMBER 3 12x12 Fundraising Exhibitions Harwood’s annual fundraising exhibitions featuring established, emerging and youth artists from New Mexico. This event includes 150 works that remain anonymous until sold – for the flat rates of $144 (12”x12”) or $36 (6”x6”) and an Artwork Preview before the original works go on sale. Prelude prices vary.

Harwood staff curate four exhibitions annually, ENCOMPASS: A Multi-Generational Art Event, SURFACE: Emerging Artists of New Mexico, and BRIDGE: Art & Social Justice.

12x12 is our annual fundraiser; all proceeds support our free community arts education, outreach and professional development.

(Top to Bottom): Diego Medina, all of this beauty was beloved into being, colored pencil on vintage map, 2021; Thomas Bowers, Crazy House, ink on paper, 2020; Adrian Pijoan, Still from Visions of Homeworld, single channel video, 5:10, 2020; MK, To see you again, archival inkjet print, lace & cotton blend table cloth, 2019

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ABOUT HARWOOD ART CENTER & ESCUELA DEL SOL MONTESSORI HARWOOD ART CENTER’S GALLERIES

is dedicated to providing exhibition, audience expansion and professional development opportunities to artists working in any media and from diverse creative fields. Our gallery program is curated and managed by our Chief Programs Officer and Associate Directors of Opportunity and Engagement. Artists are invited to exhibit during three of our annual capstone events, Encompass, Residency for Art & Social Justice & 12x12, the rest of our exhibitions are awarded to individuals and groups through a competitive application process. Most of our applications are free to apply, any collected fees allocated to replenishing Harwood’s endowed cash awards for the program. Each featured exhibition is a supportive process, we work with the artists from concept development to installation in the galleries. For our 2021 exhibiting artists, we have developed a hybrid offering of both in person and virtual programming. For each exhibition we create comprehensive outreach and digital materials including exhibition catalogs, virtual galleries and artist talks to support the unique visions and voices of our gallery artists.

Seeded in 1991, Harwood Art Center blooms the philosophy of our parent organization Escuela del Sol Montessori, with recognition that learning and expression offer the most resilient pathways to global citizenship, justice and peace. Harwood engages the arts as a catalyst for lifelong learning, cultural enrichment and social change, with programming for every age, background and income level. We believe that equitable access to the arts and opportunities for creative expression are integral to healthy individuals and thriving communities. In all of our work, we cultivate inclusive, reflective environments where everyone feels cared for. We nurture long-term, multi-faceted relationships with participants, building programs with and for diverse communities of Albuquerque. We integrate the arts with social justice, professional and economic growth, and education to cultivate a higher collective quality of life in New Mexico.

For 50 years, Escuela del Sol, an independent Montessori school, has nurtured selfdiscovery, social responsibility and passion for learning in our students. Each day Escuela supports students from ages 18 months to 13 years on their real-world quests to excel academically and to develop the skills they need for meaningful, happy and successful futures.

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HARWOOD ART CENTER’S OFFICIAL GALLERY & EXHIBITION PHOTOGRAPHER We are so thrilled to have an official Harwood Photographer for our galleries program this year! We are able to present the SURFACE Emerging Artists of NM Award and Microgrant of $250 to each of this year’s artists thanks to the Urban Enhancement Trust Fund, New Mexico Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and the McCune Foundation.

Aziza Murray is a New Mexico based artist working primarily in photography. In 2015 she graduated with an MFA from the University of New Mexico where she also worked as a pictorial archiving fellow for the Center for Southwest Research. Since then, Aziza has worked in different capacities in the film industry in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, further piquing her interest in cinematography. Much of her work stems from a well of nostalgia for objects and moments, the materiality of photography, and her personal history—from experiencing tragic loss at an early age, to her multilayered experiences as a biracial person growing up in Washington, DC. She has shown her work in DC at Connersmith and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, in Albuquerque at the Harwood Art Center, the UNM Art Museum and the National Hispanic Cultural Center and, at MASS Gallery in Austin, TX. azizamurray.com azizamurray@gmail.com

MANY THANkS TO OUR geneROUS paRTnERS. We are deeply grateful to The FUNd at Albuquerque Community Foundation, Bernalillo County, City of Albuquerque / Urban Enhancement Trust Fund, The Geissman Family, The Abrams Family, Marjorie Fasman Trust, McCune Charitable Foundation, New Mexico Arts and National Endowment for the Arts for their support of SURFACE: Emerging Artists of New Mexico, as well as to Marion & Kathryn Crissey and Reggie Gammon for establishing our endowed awards for this program, and to Meghan Ferguson Mráz and Valerie Roybal for their unwavering support and constant inspiration – and for whom we named new annual awards in 2019. SURFACE would not be possible without our extraordinary local collaborators at A Good Sign, Albuquerque Art Business Association, Zendo Art & Coffee, and UNM School of Architecture and Planning.

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WWW.HARWOODARTCENTER.ORG · 505.242.6367 · 1114 7th NW, ALBUQUERQUE, NM 87102