lorena morales: embracing
on view August 22nd - September 12th, 2020
Location: 6448 Hwy 290 E., Suite A102, Austin, TX 78723
Gallery Talk and Virtual Walk-Through
Saturday September 5th, 2020 ~ at 2:15pm on YouTube (use this link) and other social media ~ Gallery Director and co-founder Troy Campa will visit with artist Lorena Morales about the exhibit and artworks.
You can also visit our YouTube Channel to watch short video clips of some of the artworks and their inspiration.
Limited Edition Exhibit Catalog
This perfect bound soft cover catalog is limited to an edition of 50. Sized 9" x 6", with 50 full color page. Each copy is signed by the artist. Contents include:
Photos of all artworks in the exhibition
Photos of the exhibit installed
Essay by Veronica Valarino
Artist’s statement
Abbreviated Artist biography
Artist’s CV
Cost of $25.00 each.
Purchase the catalog online HERE or contact the gallery.
IMAGES FROM THE EXHIBIT: scroll through or click an image to enlarge
How does a new neighborhood, or city, or country, or culture become home to us?
To make a new place our home, we must embrace the change, embrace the place, embrace the people, and embrace our new surroundings. We must also be embraced.
Embracing, Lorena Morales’ third solo exhibit with the gallery, and the title of her most recent series of artworks, arose out her experience living as an expat in Angola; specifically, in Soyo, a small town bordering the Congo River. These works contemplate the relationship between color, lines and shapes that appear, and disappear, according to the changing light, and based on the position or angle of the viewer. The dynamic experience points to the relationship between the materiality of the media, and the immateriality of light and shadow; not unlike what it feels like to question the meaning of ‘home’ and ‘culture,’ in an unfolding search for similarity, or what is absent, in new and unfamiliar environments.
Set of five artworks “Embracing Congo” by Lorena Morales; 2020; 20” x 25” each framed
detail of installation by Lorena Morales titled “I am Here”; 2020; 36” x 36” x 120”
In her own words:
“In my work, I explore deeply personal themes of home and cultural identity, and reference feelings of nostalgia as well as ever-evolving expectations. As someone who left her country of birth, Venezuela, to build a new life in Texas, and once again in Angola, Africa, I am inspired to create by the places I see and visit, and the people I meet. Through my artistic practice, I am continuously exploring what it means to embrace a new cultural identity, while also protecting the one I have brought with me."
About the Artist:
Lorena Morales is a contemporary visual artist currently living and working in Houston Texas. Born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Lorena holds certificates in painting and sculpture from the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, as well as a degree in Business Administration from Rafael Urdaneta University. She recently completed the Block XIX Program at the Glassell School of Art, and was also awarded a grant by the Carlos Cruz-Diez Foundation and the Glassell School of Art for participation in an Advanced Seminar in Contemporary Art.
Artwork: detail of “Embracing #8”; 2020; 20” x 25” framed