INSPIRATION
Sharing five images I am thinking about right now.
Visita al Pasado by Remedios Varo
Grey Fireworks by Helen Frankenthaler
Birth of a Sun by Emeteria Rios Martinez
Sueño y Presentimiento (Dream and Premonition) by María Izquierdo
by María Berrío
Via Nellie Campobello; bailarina narradora de la Revolución on Gob.mx
I discovered Nellie Campobello as one of las siete cabritas in Elena Poniatowska’s book Las Siete Cabritas, which honestly I am still reading. While I have pretty good reading comprehension in Spanish, it is still hard for me to read books in Spanish. I usually read at night, but I think when reading in another language I need to read in the morning, when I’m more aware and it doesn’t feel so exhausting.
Because of this, I decided to read Campobello’s novel Cartucho in English. I finished reading it the day after Gov. Cuomo announced PAUSE, NY’s version of shelter-in-place, and a day before it actually started: all non-essential business stopped in NY.
In my journal on Saturday, March 21, 2020, I wrote:
Oh my God, what if this goes on for a year?
So much uncertainty.
So much sadness.
So much poverty — already and to come.
It’s funny when I reread it today I thought it said ‘poetry’ but it says poverty. I wrote this before the 808,702 cases and 44,120 deaths in the United States (stats as of 4/21/20 via Wikipedia). We're now on PAUSE until May 15, 2020.
Anyway, I was clearly anxious and reading Campobello’s prose before PAUSE started. I was waking up to the BBC on NPR announcing the latest COVID-19 news in China, Italy, and Spain. Reading Cartucho was a strange but comforting way to prime my brain for the constant stream of dire news that is still going on today. I no longer wake up to the news, I now wait until 10am to let that come into my brain, but the news is never far from my mind.
The three sections of Cartucho are:
I. Men of the North
II. The Executed
III. Under Fire
Not exactly a beach read. The titles in her novel My Mother’s Hands, which were also in the e-book version I read, include:
She Was…
The Men Left Their Mutilated Bodies Awaiting the Succor of These Simple Flowers
She and Her Machine
Again, not light stuff. But, somehow, it was helpful to read Campobello’s somber words on the days leading up to the days we have now. The days when I was reading the news late into the night on my phone in my bed and panicking on the phone to my mom, who somehow has kept very calm throughout all this even though she knows me and my sister (one of three of my sisters) are in the middle of the current hot spot, NYC.
I miss seeing my mom and my nana. FaceTime and Zoom video calls aren’t enough. I miss hugging my nana and then sniffing around the kitchen to see what she has made. I miss her enchiladas, which I can’t even make because I can’t find Las Palmas anywhere (I heard they sell it at Target, but I’m not going to go there now). And maybe that’s why this book was comforting—for a small period of time I got to be a part of Campobello’s family sphere.
Something I learned in the Introduction of the book, by Elena Poniatowska, is that Nellie and her sister Gloria traveled throughout Mexico learning and practicing “indigenous rhythms” — dance steps, but also the way people walk in different places.
Poniatowska writes “The native of Mexico State,” they (Campobello’s sisters), “walks with the body weight over his heels, like the people form the Yucatán except that unlike them, he doesn’t stretch his body up nor tilt backward, rather he leans forward, although not so much as the Michoacán Indian . . . With his eyes always fixed on the ground and with his arms tucked tight against his body, he gives the impression that as he walks he is embracing himself.”
Photo via Referente
Nellie Campobello was a dancer, choreographer, and a writer. This practice of observation is evident in Cartucho and her history is inspiring to me as a writer, a dancer (not professional, but I grew up dancing and still do it as a hobby), an artist, and as a Mexican-American/Chicana/person of Mexican decent. I did not learn about Campobello in school, but I am glad I am learning about her now.
Cartucho was published in 1931. It includes over 50 vignettes describing soldiers and family acquaintances from her perspective — as a young girl surrounded by the war, death, and the chaos of the Mexican Revolution. “Children’s lives, if no one imprisons them, are an uninterrupted film” Campobello writes in My Mother’s Hands, and Cartucho reads almost like a screen play. There are short scenes with subtle enhancements that give you just enough to imagine the rest.
When describing a man in front of their house in the Chapter The Dead Man, Campobello writes:
“Look how yellow he is,” said my sister with a squeal that made me remember Felipe
Reyes.
“He’s really white from the fear of dying,” I said, convinced of my knowledge in the
matters of death.”
One of my favorite sentences is about José Díaz, a neighborhood heart throb who, according to Campobello, is a future love interest of her doll:
“He got bullet wounds so he wouldn’t hate the sun”
On the cotidiana (the everyday):
“No, I never drink water. My whole life, coffee, only coffee. Water tastes bad to me,” he said, learning his throat. … the man who drank coffee all his life.
On fascination with death:
“Guts! How nice! Whose are they?” We said, our curiosity showing in our eyes. “They belong to General Sobarzo,” said the same soldier.
“…blood pouring out of him through many holes”
“That dead man seemed mine.
“That night I went to sleep dreaming they would shoot someone else and hoping it would be next to my house”
On the beauty of death:
“I think his arms fell asleep alongside his rifle after a song of bullets.”
“The cigarette kept on burning between his fingers drained of life.”
“…at least they’ll know that I ended up among the mounds of dirt in this cemetery”
On the realities of war:
Pablito López had ordered some Americans shot one day. “Don’t shoot them,” some
men told him. “Can’t you see they’re Americans?”
The young general, laughing to himself like a boy they were trying to scare, said to
them, “Well, until we know if they’re apples or pears, charge them up to me.”
And then and there the Americans were shot.
Check out
I also found these passages interesting, which are from My Mother’s Hands:
“She was alone; her companion live in her memory”
“Sequins and ears of corn are different. If rain falls from the sky onto sequins, they disintegrate. Grains of corn swell up and offer themselves to empty stomachs…
“They were happy little rags, made with the songs she sent out into he night in memory of her companion!
“For us she ransomed the happiness we owe her today”
“She, the flower to which we clung like bees; we, the ones who drank everything from her and left her nothing.”
“Were the laws of men trying to spoil our world?”
“Men’s law is good as long as the weak have their place within it.”
“She formed us that way. No one who does not give us love can ever give us anything. We shall always be the masters of our footsteps.”
“These people thought with their hearts, judge them accordingly.”
“Life was like that: a bit of information and a man spurring his horse.”
“…not being when you should have been is not to be when there is no need to be.”
“You must do things quickly. That way you don’t feel frightened”
"Poor little machine (referring to the sewing machine) that gave us hems while the cannon gave us dead bodies, lots of dead bodies!”
“…gentle hair on your adorable head. By the clouds that dance under the motion of the sun.”
Poniatowska, in the Introduction of Cartucho, gives us a helpful list of Campobello’s contemporaries of María Izquierdo, Frida Kahlo, Lenora Carrington, Remedios Varo, Lupe Marín, Nahui Olía, María Asúnsolo, and Dolores del Rio — “extraordinary women” from a “Mexico in the process of discovering itself and fascinated by itself and a fascinating other seers”. I’m excited to dig into this list — more thoughts to come!
I’m back in NYC and happy to be in my studio again. I am working on some new pieces, mostly mixed media and some painting. I’m also working on my business, Distill Creative, mainly focusing on connecting real estate developers and artists.
I’ve gone to some interesting shows that I wanted to share.
JANUARY 9 - 31, 2020
This show was actually not interesting and rather underwhelming. I didn’t think the work was particularly strong and I was just really confused. They did have drinks and jazz at the opening, so I appreciated that. One highlight is that they had some work by other artists in the basement and I got to see this piece by Pascale Marthine Tayou, who also did the giant plastic bag tree and other large-scale plastic bag work.
JANUARY 10, 2020
This was such a random treat! My friend and I went to see Slave Play by Jeremy O. Harris and she said her friend was having a show that night so we went and made it before the end.
The work was both kinetic and fantastical. I loved the colors and surprise of what you would see when you twisted the blinds. I also really liked the use of a very lame and recognizable material — those cheap vertical blinds that you see in like a motel or crappy apartment. This work helped me visualize how to move one of my works by just literally laying them out next to each other to paint across. It’s a stupid easy thing, but his work helped.
Work by Sammy Bennett
An example of how I’m laying out to get parts connected the way I want. In progress artwork by Stephanie Echeveste.
OCTOBER 24 - JANUARY 26, 2020
I really liked this show, well most of it. It is always nice to see the work of an artist who paved the way for much of today’s status quo. It puts you in your place. Nothing is original, everything has been done. It’s a good reminder.
The surprising part of this show was the weird science fair work on the top floor (was it the third floor?). I mean, I really felt like I accidentally took the elevator to the wrong educational institution. Maybe all the work on that floor together is what made me feel like a second grader on a field trip? I think a lot of this work is older, so perhaps this very work inspired science museum installations as we know them today?
There’s something about his work that feels very familiar. This is probably because it has influenced so many other artists whose work I now see, and also inspired the very way exhibitions are setup.
Anyway, Haacke is a pioneer and I am very thankful for his institutional critique work and also wish I got his kinetic work.
Hans Haacke: All Connected at the New Museum
Below is just something I saw while out with friends in St. Pete’s.
Mural by Elle Leblanc in the bathroom of a bar in St. Petersburg (I was there for a writing retreat with some friends).
DECEMBER 13 - FEBRUARY 2, 2020
I wish Company had said ‘we are on the third floor’ on their instagram, because I walked around the block trying to find it. I realize it says so on their website but still.
I loved this show! It was very inspiring for me and also made me jealous. How did Linnéa create such wonderfully intricate work?! Why haven’t I completed all the work I have in my head?!
I don’t love Linnéa’s style, but I do love her artistry and craftspersonship. Her exhibit for some reason gave me permission to just go for it — use all the things, put all the things together, make all the things, do all the themes. It was refreshing and really fun to look at and dissect.
Another in progress work by me, Stephanie Echeveste. Inspired probably by Linnéa’s work.
NOVEMBER 20 - MARCH 22, 2020
I am so glad I got to see this exhibit! It was amazing. I only even found out about this because there was a piece in the NY Times (Zilia Sanchéz’s Island Erotic Forms by Jillian Steinhauer) and I happened to see it. I, probably like many other people, did not even know about Zilia’s work and I feel really upset that she is not as well know as her contemporaries since she’s been working for over 50 years making gorgeous abstract, sculptural work. The way she forms canvas and uses that as the structure of her work is amazing. I almost want to write her and see if I can study with her, but I’m sure I’d be like one of hundreds of people.
She’s an inspiration to me because not only has she always been a working artist — like did other jobs to be able to make art it seems via her biography (which was on the wall!), but she has collaborated with other artists, particularly latinx artists, on other projects like literary magazines and feminist zines. She was born in Cuba, lived in New York, traveled often to Europe, and now lives and works in Puerto Rico.
This exhibit inspired some new work I did, mostly drawings and paintings but I’m still thinking about the structural aspects of her work.
In progress work inspired by Zilia by me, Stephanie Echeveste
In progress work inspired by Zilia by me, Stephanie Echeveste and Yoshi, the office dog (of JPG Legal — I share the main office with them)
Some other work I made shortly after the show (the drawings and painting). I did the textile piece late last year, but I thought they all went well together. By Stephanie Echeveste.
NOVEMBER 16 - FEBRUARY 1, 2020
This was another find by my in-the-know friend who suggested we go here after El Museo del Barrio. We walked up all the stairs in this charming building in the Upper East Side and found ourselves in the most delightful gallery. Photographs were up on the wall and some art books were on a small table in the center of the room.
Marcia’s work is hilarious. It is tactile — her pencil (I think it’s pencil) handwriting on the prints is precious. I have so many questions about her Re-Visions series but mostly I wish I could be Marcia’s friend, on Twitter — oh wait, I can! Here’s her profile. This show was excellent and I am so glad we went.
Marcia Resnick from her Re-Visions (1978)
This was inspired, I think, by Marcia’s work, though I am only now realizing it. I did it for the Fe* Mail* Art* Postcard show at A.I.R. because the theme was ‘networked communities initiated through correspondence.’ Pen and ink on paper by Stephanie Echeveste.
I also started NYC Crit Club weekly a few weeks ago and it has been fascinating and intimidating and wonderful. If you are an artist in New York City, I highly recommend checking them out!
Books I’ve read this year so far:
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (1951) (no, I have not seen the film, should I?)
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (1956)
Chromophobia by David Batchelor (2000)
Cartucho by Nellie Campobello (1931) — I just started this so I’m not actually done yet.
Alright, time for real studio time.
-Stephanie
Me, my sister Valerie, and my sister Alicia. Photo by Jeremy Peter Green. Mural by Sofia Maldonado.
I was in Los Angeles this December for Christmas to see my family and friends. It was nice to run by the beach and visit some of my favorite spots in my favorite neighborhoods. I also got to see USC’s crazy new University Village. The day after Christmas, my family and I went to the Museum of Latin American Art! Here are a few of my favorite artworks from the current exhibits.
Arte, Mujer, y Memoria: Arpilleras de Chile
On View: November 23, 2019 - March 29, 2020
This collection of arpilleras — textile works on burlap — were amazing. They were created between 1976 and 2019 by Chilean artisans and illustrate life during the Pinochet regime. The details are stunning and the scenes are devastating and heartbreaking.
Memento: An Anthological Exhibition by Tomás Ochoa
On View: September 15, 2019 - January 15, 2020
Ochoa’s paintings are fascinating. He recreates imagery from Columbia drawing from his own photographs and foliage, then recreates the pixels of the created photo with oil and gunpowder.
Stein/Estaño: In and Out of Mexico
On View: October 5, 2019 - February 16, 2020
Stein worked with David Alfaro Siqueiros. This show has many of Stein’s incredible paintings on view.
Matías Duville: desert means ocean
On View: August 25, 2019 - March 22, 2020
I didn’t love most of Duville’s work, but I did like this one!
Floating Timeline: Quique Rivera
On View: October 27, 2019 - April 25, 2020
I don’t have any photos from this exhibit it, but Rivera’s animations and sets are beautifully surreal.
Thanks for reading!
-Stephanie
I regularly see art exhibitions in NYC and beyond and I have been trying to make sure I show up for shows featuring women artists. Because women are still extremely underrepresented in the art world, it makes me very excited and somewhat hopeful when I see work in galleries and museums by women.
I’ve been meaning to share this post as a roundup of some of my favorite recent shows for a while, but have been delayed because: I had to find all the photos in my phone and download and upload and you know, I wanted to have something intelligent to say about each piece (I mostly gave up on this, but I may add thoughts later), and I kept having more and more to add and just got overwhelmed with the post.
Tonight I decided I just need to post what i have so far because I think it is important to record my own personal inspiration and also to document who is showing women. Hopefully you can see some of this work and/or follow these artists (note: some are not alive) and maybe be inspired to see more shows wherever you are! I’m extremely spoiled because I am in a city with art up all the time. I’m sorry many of these shows are no longer up — I will try to be more prompt in the future. If you want to see what' I’m seeing in real time, follow me on instagram @stephanie.echeveste_art or @distillcreative.
Below are some shows I’ve seen recently. Check them out!
On View: until December 15, 2019
Where: Elijah Wheat Showroom at 1196 Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn
It’s hard to be successful at video art, but Tianyi Zhang’s 99 Agreements is fascinating and well done. Her use of character, place, and language plus the expert installation by the Elijah Wheat Showroom team create a really moving show. Check it out before it’s over!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tianyii1/
Website: http://www.zhangtianyi.org/
On View: until April 12, 2020
Where: MoMa at 11 West 53 Street, Manhattan
Try to go during one of the ‘daily activations’.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yanghaegue/
Website: http://www.heikejung.de/
VIa instagram.com/sadgirlpop by Christine Mi
Christine Mi runs the comic Sad Girl Pop and is part of the show Asian Babies at Pearl River Mart.
You can follow Christine Mi on Instagram at @sadgirlpop.
On View: until January 12th, 2020
Where: Pearl River Mart at 395 Broadway, NYC
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sadgirlpop/
Website: https://www.patreon.com/sadgirlpop
On View: Permanent?
Where: Governors Island, NYC
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shantell_martin/
Website: https://shantellmartin.art/
(On my list to see: Jody MacDonald, ,Friday and Sunday 1-6pm until January 17, 2020 at Radiator Gallery and Zilia Sánchez at Museo del Barrio, Wednesday to Saturday 11am – 6pm, Sunday 12pm – 5pm, until March 22, 2020)
This was a one time performance, which included a children’s choir and a fabric artwork that everyone stuck there heads in, but I think the most notable thing was how many brown people we present. It made me feel like I belonged.
On View: When: Friday, November 8, 2019
Where: Guggenheim at 1071 5th Ave, NY, NY
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/piacamil/
Website: https://www.piacamil.me/
I discovered Carmen Herrera’s first major outdoor sculpture exhibition Estructuras Monumentales while walking home from my studio one night when the F train was rerouted to the A line. It was a lucky accident to stumble upon her work, which was moving to see in the dark. I did not now of her work and now cannot wait to learn more.
On View: July 11th - November 8th, 2019
Where: City Hall Park
Instagram: NA https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/carmenherrera/
Website: NA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_Herrera
On View: September 28 - November 3rd, 2019
Where: Smack Mellon at 92 Plymouth St., Brooklyn, NY 11201
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/esperanzacortes11/
Website: http://www.esperanzacortes.com/
Read this interview with Tschabalala Self in T Magazine!
On View: June 9–September 8, 2019
Where: MoMA PS1 at 11 West 53 Street, Manhattan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tschabalalaself/
Website: http://tschabalalaself.com/
On View: March 31–September 2, 2019
Where: MoMA PS1 at 11 West 53 Street, Manhattan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gina_beavers/
Where: MoMA PS1 at 11 West 53 Street, Manhattan
When: June 9–September 2, 2019
Instagram: NA https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/juliebecker/
Website: NA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Becker
On View: September 7 - October 26th, 2019
Where: Minus Space at 16 Main Street, Suite A, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lesliejaneroberts/
Anna Valdez’s Bird Vase in Studio via Hashimoto Contemporary
On View: October 5 - 26th, 2019
Where: Hashimoto Contemporary at 210 Rivington Street, New York, NY 10002
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/missannavaldez/
Website: https://www.annavaldez.com/
The show was particularly moving for me. Check out this review.
On View: June 4 - September 29, 2019
Where: Met Breuer at 945 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10021
Instagram: NA https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/mrinalinimukherjee/
Website: NA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrinalini_Mukherjee
On View: August 1 - October 6, 2019
Where: Richard Tattinger Gallery at 154 Ludlow St, New York, NY 10002
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hatecopy/
Website: https://hatecopy.com/
I was here via NYC Crit Club and we actually got to talk to the artist and learn more about her process and basically I wrote down MAKE MORE STUDIES because Ness does studies so well and it shows.
On View: September 8 - October 27, 2019
Where: 1969 Gallery at 103 Allen Street, New York, NY 10002
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccanessart/
Website: http://www.rebeccalness.com/
On View: September 20th, 6pm
Where: THE HALL at 9 Hall street in Brooklyn NY
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shyamagolden/
Website: https://shyamagolden.com/
"We rise and fall and light from dying embers, remembrances
that hope and love last longer
And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed
or swept aside.
Now fill the world with music, love and pride."
- Lin-Manuel Miranda
