GRÁFICA AMÉRICA
Mar. 3 — Sept. 1, 2019
Dignidad Rebelde, Oakland, California, USA
Bringing Back Ourselves: A Recovery of the Stolen, 2019, Serigraph, 30 x 22 inches, Courtesy of the artists
MELANIE CERVANTES
(United States)
Melanie Cervantes is a Xicanx artist and activist and co-founder of the Oakland-based Dignidad Rebelde (Est. 2007) and member of the Justseeds Artists’Cooperative as well as the Consejo Gráfico de Talleres (Graphics Council of Workshops), a network of artist run print shops dedicated to advancing Latinx printmaking in the United States. Her work engages the issues central to her community in an effort to inspire solidarity and bring about justice. Working with her partner and Dignidad Rebelde collaborator, Jesús Barraza, Cervantes designed this serigraph titled Bringing Back Ourselves: A Recovery of the Stolen, honoring the resiliency of indigenous groups in maintaining their spiritual beliefs and practices in the face of violent suppression. The serigraph depicts ritualistic indigenous elements carefully placed on a colorful rug, symbolizing the way communities keep ancient rites alive in the face of five hundred years of occupation. Cervantes’ work has been exhibited throughout the United States, Mexico, Canada, Italy, France, Germany, and Slovenia.
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