Two Women Artists with Unique Perspectives about Life
Two artists are currently showcasing some of their artwork in the “MUJERES: Poetic Revelations of our Lives” exhibit in place until April 22. Both Nora Valdez, from Argentina and Silvia Lopez Chavez, from the Dominican Republic discovered art at a very young age. Valdez studied in an academy of the arts since she was 12 and Lopez Chavez enrolled in after school art classes since the beginning of high school.
Although they followed similar paths, these two artists each have very different and unique perspectives when it comes to their chosen mediums and their message. Lopez Chavez is a painter that loves to experiment with multimedia. Her background as a graphic designer and illustrator is an important influence, “it comes through in my practice as a fine artist, it’s the duality of who I am,” she explained. Lopez Chavez maintains that her art is a balance, or a mix, between the abstract and the figurative with patterns, figures, and repetition put together with more formal landscapes and portraits.
Valdez started out painting, she spent some time in Brazil, and in Perugia, Italy after winning an art scholarship, before moving to Spain. It was during her time in Spain that she discovered her passion for sculpture. She describes it as pure coincidence, “They asked if I could sculpt and I said of course, but the truth is I had never done it before.” And like that she began her career carving, in a group where she was the only woman. “I’m very small. I am 5’2 and people always question me, is this really your work? If I were a guy, nobody would ask me this,” she said. She carves her sculptures directly from drawings, without making any mock-ups. Valdez lets her art flow through her without any intermediaries, once she decides what she wants, “I just start with chisel and hammer and go.”
Lopez Chavez views art as a helpful tool to discuss subject matter that otherwise might be too difficult. She brings issues that she considers important to the forefront through her pieces. Currently at La Galeria she is displaying a body of work that represents the poor air quality in her community of Chelsea. She decided to paint pictures of Chelsea residents holding their breath, “it’s funny, but it’s also addressing a serious issue,” she said. The portraits in the exhibit are a testament to her knack for experimental mixing, she used the same minoring technique in their backgrounds and acrylic paint in the actual portrait to bring everything together.
Valdez’s work speaks about the immigrant experience. As an immigrant whose family still lives in her country of birth, Argentina, she describes it as being “from there, here, and nowhere.” With her faceless sculptures of people carrying bags, or a heart, or a cross she tells the story of calling more than one place home, and sometimes feeling like they don’t belong in either of them. “You come from a country where your whole family is waiting for you to come back, but you make your own life and it’s how you deal with those feelings,” she said. She doesn’t put faces in her sculptures for a reason, “I want people to put their own faces, so everyone can relate according to their own experience” she said.
Both Artists shared their enthusiasm at presenting in La Galeria, agreeing that it’s important to have a place that promotes Latino art. Valdez thinks IBA’s La Galeria is exceptional because it achieves its mission, “We will always have a place to show in a professional manner and people will come, when you do things right people will come,” she said. Lopez Chavez agrees, “it’s important that there is a place to show more art in general in Boston but the fact that IBA is trying to focus on Latino artists is great because there are not as many opportunities,” she said.
This Friday, March 27th both of these women will be discussing all of this and more at La Galería at 6:00 PM. You are welcome to come and share your experience....