The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “Past is Present”, a solo exhibition of installation and video work by Michelle Cortez Gonzales.
“Past is Present” is on display in the Norman Brown Gallery from 16 September 2022 to 14 October 2022, with a closing reception on Saturday, 8 October 2022, from 1.00 - 3.00pm.
About the Exhibition
“Past is Present” is an exhibition of installation and video work that focuses on familial ties, identity and domestic labor through the effects of assimilation within my Mexican American family. I am strongly influenced by people in my life who share cultural experiences through hard work, hand-making, and objects. Simultaneously, I recognize a legacy of silence and trauma that has trickled down and informed the duality of connection and conflict between my past and present.
Found fabric and domestic craft processes are an essential feature in my practice, as they too can become lost histories. Ten small works made up of fabric scraps, drawings, and old photographs of family members are displayed along the wall and secured with vinyl tablecloth and gold embroidery. Each piece acts as a relic of memory, preserving the actions of love that draw me back to my family and my culture.
The 8-minute looped video is inspired by my grandmother, who was a strong but silent woman. She spent nights working hard for others and days carrying out household tasks for her family. I imagined the discrimination she faced that forced her to choose English over Spanish, and actions over words as methods of survival. I am depicted hanging wet sheets with hand embroidered Spanish words onto a clothesline. Sounds of cicadas and thunder rolling in the distance are heard throughout. The words Orgullo (pride), Familia (family), Lengua (language), Historia (history), Tradicion (tradition), and Yo (me) are literally left hanging in the elements of rain and wind. With each fabric hung, a shadow is created between me and my grandmother; as a mother, a woman, a laborer, and descendant of my Mexican American family.
The act of conjuring memories and connecting to the past becomes an important meditative exercise that allows me to link to my ancestors and aid in my healing journey. This exhibition is meant to evoke memories of one’s own past and speak to our interconnectedness of fragmented identities.
-Michelle Cortez Gonzales
About the Artist
Michelle Cortez Gonzales is a mixed media painter and installation artist. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from the University of Texas at Arlington, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Dallas. She carries an extensive record of solo, juried, and group exhibitions across galleries in the DFW area. She was featured in Visit Fort Worth’s 2021 series of “Women Worth Meeting," and has been awarded residencies from Cuttyhunk Island Artist Residency, Massachusetts (2021), and with the Amon Carter Museum of American Art as a 2021 Community Artist. Her work has been written about in publications including the Dallas Morning News, Glasstire and Maake Magazine.