Elemental Sisterhood presents: The Nature of Women
Elemental Sisterhood, five Riverside based artists, have come together under the recommendation of Division 9’s Cosme Cordova to create a unique and synergistic art show that examines the nature of women. All five artists work in different mediums with distinctive styles that become interwoven in several collaborative pieces.
Women traditionally and universally have been the members of society to make beauty and peace in their homes and greater communities. “We work with what we have, and have an intuitive drive to make the world a better place for our children.” Says Selena Wilson, one of the artists in the collective. When the group was still in the brainstorming stages of the project, they were thinking about the ideas of womens work, sometimes known as piecework, meaning that scraps and remnants are often salvaged to put something together . Artist Kiandra Jimenez notes, “Within women lies the ability to look at scraps, remnants, pieces and see a beautiful whole. It is the nature of women to see wholeness and beauty where others look away. To not shy from fragments or brokenness, but to embrace and revision. Women, pulling from materials and tools often overlooked or ignored, have the ability to reflect on all facets of humanity and show us the hidden beauty within ourselves. This is the purpose of art, to reflect and display humanity.” Woman will mend things to keep them together, they will patch up old things to make them new or customized and meaningful. These practices were often done out of necessity but are actually very resourceful and good for people and the planet. This idea of piecework quickly transcended into the idea of “peacework” as the conversation shifted toward the role of women as peacekeepers in the family, community, and Earth.
A series of panels depicts the profiles of each woman in the show. They are designed collaboratively, with the unique style of work from each artist evident. All share aspects of nature woven throughout the piece.Artist Cynthia Huerta declares,”It is woman nature to be inspired by our surroundings. To assimilate ourselves to a flower, an animal, and make them us.” She has, “ Always felt a strong connection to Mother Earth and in this artistic collaboration we have all felt the need to make nature a strong presence.”
Maggie Tello-Case is a mixed media artist who specializes in fabric and the incorporation of embellishments like buttons into her pieces. In reflecting on the collaborative panels she states that, “everything added to the pieces every week was like a little love note to the subject from the artists. It was seeing the subject through the eyes of each artist but also getting input from the subjects too. Seeing the pieces take shape was almost akin to what you’d feel as a child on the night before Christmas or your birthday, when you knew you were getting something good, only you weren’t sure what."
As a whole experience, Erin Maxwell sums it up well, “I love seeing how five different artists may interpret a single subject in varied and beautiful ways. I feel inspired by Selena, Kiandra, Cynthia and Maggie and their works in painting, patchwork, textile collage and word-burning. I am a mosaic artist, and I have always found joy in breaking things up and putting them together in new and reimagined ways. As a group, we are piecing together the stories of our lives and experiences individually and collaboratively.
