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VANESSA GONZALEZ: MI CASE ES YOUR HOUSE at CBU Gallery

February 22 - April 10, 2019
Artist's Reception: Friday, March 15, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

“Mi Casa es Your House” explores multiple factors of Gonzalez’s Mexican-American identity, celebrating and exploring her Mexican heritage and her acceptance of her dual citizenship status with iconic imagery, mixed with expressions of confusion regarding what is required to be part of a nation, an everyday struggle with immigration, assimilation, discrimination.

Vanessa Gonzalez is a printmaker, ceramicist, and bookmaker who regularly incorporates mixed media into her work. Born in Texas and raised in Mexico, Gonzalez was always exposed to Latinx art and culture, which inspired her to become passionate about its rich cultural traditions. She currently lives in Memphis, where she earned her MFA at Memphis College of Art and currently works as an elementary school art teacher at a local charter school. Her artwork has been exhibited not only in the United States but internationally as well, in Mexico, Australia, and Germany.

“The need to find a way to integrate the beautiful, harmonious, culture of my two home countries into my work is heavily rooted in my personal struggle over my cultural identity,” Gonzalez says. “I constantly use images that certify my identity and nationality, something that proves my identity, where I belong. These images not only serve as a representation of my two homelands, but they also show how I constantly cross an emotional border between these two societies. These ‘border-crossings’ create the feeling of transient cultural explorations that helps me accept my dual citizenship, that creates a feeling of belonging within the two cultures.”

In this conversation, Vanessa discusses her background as a citizen of two cultures, and how that duality is expressed in her art.

More info: www.vanessagonzalezart.com

Beverly and Sam Ross Gallery at CBU

I began piano lessons at age 6, trumpet at age 9, and began teaching myself the guitar at 10. My electronics knowledge comes from my father, who had the RCA television and stereo shop in my hometown of Pocahontas, Arkansas for nearly 20 years. My dad is still fixing televisions at age 79.