Meet Her Hands: Maribel Falcón
Meet Her Hands is a collaborative exhibition series, produced by #bbatx and the Elisabet Ney Museum every summer, featuring three Texan women artists. This season, we're proud to host photographer Karen Navarro, artist Maribel Falcón and artist duo Big Chicken & Baby Bird. Each artist will showcase work within the Elisabet Ney's collection for two weeks, and throughout the summer we'll explore sculptor Elisabet Ney's legacy, while writing a new history of women in the arts.
The second exhibition in Meet Her Hands, by artist Maribel Falcón, opened on June 27. Thank you to our collaborators at the Elisabet Ney Museum, our drink sponsors Austin Cocktails, our volunteers and partners for making this show possible.
Photo by Jinni J.
MEET THE ARTIST BEHIND "Memoria”
Maribel Falcón is an Tejana creatrix based in Austin, TX. She works with analog and digital collage as a medium, and her art focuses on political messages and indigenous-based spiritual practices. She is co-founder of Colectiva Cósmica,an art collective of mujeres who make art, teach workshops, and publish zines. Her work has been featured in Remezcla and Bitch Magazine.
"I do things that I’m inspired by. Doing things that I enjoy helps me nurture my creativity. I also focus a lot on taking care of myself... that also makes me be a better, more creative person. I also think is important to work with a deadline. I believe that having a goal in mind can help you push through and get me close to my completing my work. That’s why having this opening was so helpful.” — Maribel Falcón
ABOUT THE SHOW:
Hosted within the guest artist space at the Elisabet Ney Museum, Memoria by Maribel Falcón is a collection of collages in various sizes depicting ethereal imagery, revolutionist women and water. Maribel Falcón is an Tejana creatrix based in Austin, TX. She works with analog and digital collage as a medium, and her art focuses on political messages and indigenous-based spiritual practices. She is co-founder of Colectiva Cósmica,an art collective of mujeres who make art, teach workshops, and publish zines. Her work has been featured in Remezcla and Bitch Magazine.
Here are a few notes from BBATX Committee Member Cara Cate and Maribel Falcón’s opening reception artist talk.
On creating art:
I did not grow up around art. I did not go to school to study art, in fact my degree is in sociology but I had always been very hungry for art and the scene in Austin really inspired me to become an artist. Now that I look back, women in my family were all artists I just did not know. My aunts, grandmother used to work a lot with fabrics and textiles but since that was, I guess normal and always part of my home, I never saw them as artists. I remember I used to play with their fabric paints but It was not until later in college where I realized I would spend a lot of time decorating my notebooks and finding the right images that I thought would fit the thematic of my classes. I never thought of myself of being an artist, so that’s why I choose collage and analog as a medium because it is so accessible to anybody. I always find myself at thrift stores buying paper, old pieces of advertisements, and any kind of paper (I have recycled beautiful paper from trash cans!). I think of paper as a respected medium because opposed to digital, paper is harder to trace but also is special to keep. I mean, a lot of people keep paper because it’s beautiful and that’s what I like about it.I also like working on zines, they’re great for exchanging information and is a form of publication that is not regulated. I love it, I don’t have to worry about rights and the traditional conventions of publishing houses.
On starting a collage:
A lot of times is just phrases, concepts, or just themes (a lot of them political charged!) but for sure it takes a lot of time to visualize and conceptualize my thoughts into a new work.
On what inspires her:
The Mexic-Arte Museum is a great place that everyone in Austin should go see...I’m not going to ask you to raise your hand to see how many of you have not been there yet, but really, you need to go see it! I also enjoy visiting my friend’s galleries, and so many other things in the city...I do not know. I like watching outdoor films in Austin, I really enjoy visual arts.
On managing work and creativity
I do believe that the era of working for someone else and building an empire for anyone other than you is over! Nonetheless, I chose to have a job for a paycheck because it allows me to be freely creative and not to worry about making art to sell. I wouldn’t want to rely on my creativity or ability to produce art, especially in a scale where I would have to count on it to live. When I’m not doing art I work at a library and I really love it there!
How she named the show
To be honest “Memoria” was the name of my great-grandmother and I wanted to dedicate my first art show to her. So, that’s how I came up with the name!
Photo by Jinni J
WANT TO ATTEND A MEET HER HANDS EXHIBITION?
You can view Maribel Falcón’s Memoria through July 10, 2019 at the Elisabet Ney Museum during museum hours. Our next exhibition in the series featuring works by duo-collective Big Chicken & Baby Bird, will open on July 11 from 6:30 to 9 PM. Click here for details.