SOMOS
SOMOS: On Domestic Violence, Resilience, and Healing
Museo de las Americas
861 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO 80204
May 5-August 21, 2021
Curated by Carina Bañuelos-Harrison
Admission: $8
Review by Renée Marino
SOMOS: On Domestic Violence, Resilience, and Healing at Museo de las Americas is a nuanced, isolation-breaking exhibition featuring the work of thirteen local Latinx artists. Each of the artists share a keen understanding of domestic violence, manifested in a range of mediums—from embroidery to oil paint, to needle felting and photography. [1] SOMOS, curated by Carina Bañuelos-Harrison of Art and Color, in partnership with Latina Safe House, brings the community together around a complex social issue, and encourages healing. The exhibit provides an intimate look at the impact of domestic violence, punctuated with hope for survivors, families, and ultimately society.
Adriana Paola Palacios Luna, Narratives for Hope and Against Gender Violence Against Women / Narrativas por la esperanza y contra la violencia hacia las mujeres, 2021, needle felting, laser cut wood, embossed tin, sewing, yarn wrapping, and weaving, 24 x 15 x 3 inches. Image by curator Carina Bañuelos-Harrison.
Stepping into a bright yellow corridor, visitors are immediately greeted by Adriana Paola Palacios Luna’s Narratives for Hope and Against Gender Violence Against Women. This blossoming yarn tree is rooted in a colorful, needle-felted plat of symbols: a bird, a moon, a vagina, a heart, and others. Palacios Luna connects violence against women to violence perpetrated on Mother Earth herself. In her artist statement she also asserts that “eradicating patriarchy, and the heteropatriarchal capitalist system that promotes it, requires the creativity and commitment of the entire society”—a testament of what’s to come.
Bañuelos-Harrison’s curatorial statement then provides a necessary pause for viewers to prepare themselves for the exhibit. It comes with a trigger warning and a reminder to “help create an atmosphere of mutual respect and sensitivity.” The curator shares that SOMOS translates to “we are,” which is a reflection of the survivors’ journeys from isolation to togetherness.
A view of the title wall and a handful of works in the exhibition SOMOS: On Domestic Violence, Resilience, and Healing curated by Carina Bañuelos-Harrison at Museo de las Americas. Image by DARIA.
As viewers round the corner they’ll find a striking oil painting, Solitude / Solidad by Gonzalo Pedraza, depicting a naked woman curled up in the corner of a blue room. Upon closer inspection a shadowy figure, the suspected abuser, can be seen hovering over the woman. The shadow is positioned such that the viewer could actually be the one casting it. Pedraza creates a haunting scene with technical grace, subtly questioning the viewer’s own tendencies toward violence.
I spoke with Bañuelos-Harrison about the extensive process for curating this unique exhibition. Latino Safe House worked closely with the artists, providing them with comadres or counselors, and even Bañuelos-Harrison herself sought counsel:
“I knew that this would bring up a lot of emotions. We asked ourselves, how are we being culturally sensitive to survivors’ needs?”
All of the artists in the exhibition have been impacted by domestic violence in some way or at least sought to tell the stories of survivors. So, Bañuelos-Harrison along with Latina Safe House made it a top priority to bring everyone together, even amidst a global pandemic.
Manuel Cordero and Tania Valenzuela, Home Sweet Home / Hogar Dulce Hogar, 2021, mixed media with door (installation), 81 x 37.5 x 7.25 inches. Images by DARIA.
The artists have chosen many mediums to educate and immerse viewers. Home Sweet Home / Hogar Dulce Hogar created by Manuel Cordero and Tania Valenzuela is an interactive door installation. Beside the door sits hand sanitizer and handouts with information on how to help those who may be experiencing domestic violence. Similarly, Janel Rosales presents an embroidered red dress entitled Recognize / Reconocer. The dress encourages viewers to learn the many signs of domestic violence because naming the abuse is a challenging precursor to seeking help. The varied mediums also give the exhibit a hands-on quality. Moluv’s Seed Woman includes hanging papier mâché birds and Analisa Ortiz’s The Wind Beneath Our Wings uses crackle paint and modeling paste to create texture.
Sandra Azcarate, Michelle’s Story (If it hurts, it is not love) / La historia de Michelle (si duele, no es amor), 2021, mixed media, acrylic, pen and ink on canvas, each work in the triptych 36 x 24 inches. Images by DARIA.
Several paintings in the show have bold graphic styles and messages. Sandra Azcarate tells Michelle’s Story (If it hurts, it is not love), drawing attention to domestic violence in the LGBTQ community. Azcarate shows two moody-hued triptychs, reading as if they are pieces of giant graphic novels on the wall. Javier Flores’ Sobreviviente/ Survivor (Portrait of Comadre and Son) celebrates healing relationships in vivid color and caricature. Sammiotzi’s NO. IT IS NOT NORMAL OR PART OF MY CULTURE / NO. NO ES NORMAL, NO ES PARTE DE MI CULTURA displays women and their families in all black and white, with the recurring imagery of hands: a hand over the heart, hands embracing, and hands over mouths—silencing generations.
Sammiotzi, NO. IT IS NOT NORMAL OR PART OF MY CULTURE / NO. NO ES NORMAL, NO ES PARTE DE MI CULTURA, 2021, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 inches. Image by DARIA.
In contrast to the profound storytelling in some of the works, Kimberly Laynez’s photograph Heal the Soul No. 19 / Sanar El Alma No. 19 needs no words. It features a woman raising both hands in front of her as if to push something away, shielding her face from view. There are metallic veins drawn on her hands. Utterly simple yet evocative, it’s as if Laynez has captured a soul coming out of an abyss—an apt metaphor for healing.
Kimberly Laynez, Heal the Soul No. 19 / Sanar El Alam No. 19 , 2021, photograph, 24 x 36 inches. Image courtesy of the artist.
The SOMOS exhibition shows the power of spaces of public healing. Although the statistic that 1 in 3 Latinx women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime is crushing, viewers are left with hope. There are many layers to this cultural phenomenon, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Latinx communities have inherited historical traumas, and through the lockdowns and shift to virtual learning and work many women have been put even more at risk. However, here in the Museo, a litany of empowered women share another side of the story. Survivors' voices can literally be heard from all corners of the gallery in a video provided by Latina Safe House. Here, survivors share their experiences, creating an ambience of recovery, community, and safety amidst the art.
As author, artist, and psychotherapist Resmaa Menakem explains in his book on inherited trauma, resilience is not a mere response, but a communal, embodied experience which must be cultivated, practiced, and passed on through relationships. [2] SOMOS puts this theory into action. It is a creative, communal show of resilience in and of itself, celebrating the women who have put an end to generational cycles of violence. Each artwork is its own healing ceremony, bringing the delicate details of harm and isolation into the public eye for a collective resolution.
Visit SOMOS before August 21st, and be sure to check the Museo De Las Americas’ event calendar to join in numerous conversations and workshops aiming to create more awareness of domestic violence and empower the community as a whole.
Renée Marino (she/they) is a writer and multi-disciplinary artist residing on land stewarded for thousands of years by the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Ute people as well as at least 48 other Indigenous tribal nations. They are a board member of Street Wise Arts, a non-profit with a mural festival based in Boulder. They are an advocate for the arts, for social awareness, and for communal healing. Their work was recently featured as a part of Shame Radiant in RedLine’s THREE ACTS: A Survey of Shame, Emotion, and Oblivion.
[1] The thirteen artists included in SOMOS: On Domestic Violence, Resilience, and Healing are Adriana Paola Palacios Luna, Gonzalo Pedraza, Janel Rosales, Moluv, Mauricio Meneses, Sammiotzi, Javier Flores, Sandra Azcarate, Manuel Cordero & Tania Valenzuela, Kimberly Laynez, Delaine Martinez, and Analisa Ortiz.
[2] My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem is a New York Times Best Seller, originally published in 2017.
