Fatima Ronquillo Meyer Gallery
Recollected: Portraits of Enchantment
For her solo exhibition at Meyer Gallery, Santa Fe artist Fatima Ronquillo releases a new body of work inspired by the landscape and fauna of northern New Mexico - a place the artist has called home for the last decade. Originally from the Philippines, Ronquillo emigrated to the United States with her family in 1987 and settled in San Antonio, Texas. Her 2022 exhibition at Meyer Gallery explored the artist’s identity in relation to her heritage and sense of place throughout her lifetime. For this show, the artist chooses to focus on her chosen home in what she calls, “a love letter to New Mexico.” Recollected: Portraits of Enchantment opens at Meyer Gallery on Friday, June 16th from 5-7pm. It will then travel to the Millicent Rogers Museum to be included in a survey exhibition of the artist’s work, on display from June 30th to September 24th.
The artist states: “New Mexico feels enchanted to me. Not only because of the kindred spirits found in its creative community of artists and writers, but also in the stark beauty of its landscape. One becomes aware of the seasons, of the desert, and the coming of the monsoon rains. I cannot help but feel a connection to its native plants, birds and animals which I encounter on daily walks through the trails around Santa Fe. I also find traces of the Philippines in its churches, santos and Hispanic traditions. It is a place conducive to solitude and creation. It feels a little out of time, not unlike the people and places of my paintings.”
Ronquillo releases approximately eight new paintings for the show, which will be available for acquisition exclusively through Meyer Gallery. The pieces will then travel to the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos for a survey exhibition of the artist’s work over the past decade, including pieces on loan from private collections. With this collaboration in mind, Ronquillo features new paintings directly inspired by Millicent Rogers as a fashion icon and the Museum’s Native American and Hispanic art collections.
The centerpiece for the show, titled, Journey’s End: Winged Victory and Jaguar at Rest, is a unique take on the history of New Mexico’s fauna. The 32 x 40” oil painting depicts a large jaguar accompanied by one of the artist’s characteristically child-like figures, set against a southwest landscape. New Mexico and Arizona were former territories for the jaguar until the 1960s, yet are now extirpated in America. Always interested in folkloric connections and symbolism in her work, Ronquillo depicts the jaguar as a symbol of power, juxtaposed by innocence alongside the young Winged Victory.
Other fauna represented in these emblematic portraits include similarly threatened species in New Mexico such as the Gila monster, while hummingbirds and magpies reference Native American folklore and symbolismparticularly Navajo. References to Millicent Rogers’ jewelry design and dress can be found in other paintings, which continue Ronquillo’s recurring theme of the keepsake or “recuerdo.” She says of these pieces: “In the museum is a letter written by Millicent Rogers to her son wherein she describes her visceral love for Taos, its land, sky and people. In it I can see a woman who lived fully and exuberantly with all of life’s pain and joy. In these paintings I wish to create enchanted portraits of those taking similar journeys imbued with memory and a sense of belonging.”
Journey’s End: Winged Victory and Jaguar at Rest
oil 32 x 40
Man with Gila Monster oil 24 x 20
Girl
