Domestic Alchemy
Featuring new work by Alejandra Chaverri, Caleb Duarte, Cristina Velazquez and Nora Raggio
Exhibition: February 2-April 7, 2007
Check out the artists in Domestic Alchemy and MACLA on KQED'S 
About Domestic Alchemy
MACLA is pleased to present our latest exhibition, Domestic Alchemy, featuring new work by four Bay Area-based artists. This exhibition is the first time each of the artists has shown their work at MACLA. While the artists work in various media, from drawing to video installation to photography to mixed-media work, their artistic endeavors are connected to a larger theme of domesticity in a range of interpretations.
Alejandra Chaverri’s photographs from the series, Otrora (In Olden Times), focus on old and forgotten objects found in people’s homes. From worn shoes to tarnished teacups to rusty kettles and broken dolls, each photograph harks to a time long gone. The photographs reveal objects that are handcrafted, sometimes tattered and torn, but the beauty of each prevails and through the creases and lines a forgotten history is transmitted to the viewer. Originally from Heredia, Costa Rica, Alejandra graduated with a degree in food science from the University of Costa Rica, San Jose. Prior to developing her career as a photographer, she worked as a scientist in both Costa Rica and the San Francisco Bay Area. Alejandra currently lives in Palo Alto, CA.
Caleb Duarte’s mixed-media installation, Pared (Wall), combines painting and drawing on sheetrock. The sheetrock is mounted on wall frames and stuffed with installation, utilizing the same materials typically found in many modern day homes. Exploring the concept of shelter, his work examines the tension found between the “first” and “third worlds” around this basic human necessity. His intricate drawings and paintings depict complex stories around the impact of globalization, natural disasters, war and the disparity between the “haves” and the “have nots.” Sensitively drawn images and text fill the wall surfaces full of images not typically found in suburbia. His two-dimensional work begins with the same materials, but expands to incorporate tile. Caleb was born in Nogales in the state of Sonora, Mexico and migrated to the Central Valley farm working community as a child. He graduated with a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and currently lives in Oakland, CA.
Nora Raggio’s installation, Jardín de los senderos que (se encuentran)/(The garden of paths that (meet/that bump into each other/that exist) fuses painting, photography and video to evoke the feeling of a garden. Jardín starts with the act of painting, as dozens of works on paper are filled with loops of colors reminiscent of flowers. Partially a meditative exercise, these densely layered paintings are seen by Nora as a “garden-variety” type of painting and a series of infinite loops, surging with electric color. One day, Nora decided to take digital photographs of these paintings. The digital images are the source material for the video pod, which is nestled in the middle of the installation. The title of the piece is also a playful reference to one of Nora’s favorite books by Jorge Luis Borges’ – El Jardín de los senderos que se bifurcan (The garden of paths that fork/bifurcate). While the Borges’ story alludes to paths that are meant to meet, to encounter, to collide, or they might sometimes splinter off and fork, in Jardín the materials are paths that collide through the self-referential employment of painting, photography and video.
Her other installation, trans::transient 07,is comprised of suitcases, video and sound. Here, Nora explores the issue of migration, where borders of language and geography are crossed. As a result, “home” is carried internally by those who migrate. Nora was born in the United States to parents of Argentinean descent. She grew up on the east coast and then lived in Buenos Aires from age six to seventeen years old. Since this time Nora has lived in the Bay Area but maintains a close connection to Argentina, visiting family on a regular basis. Prior to developing her career as an artist, she also worked as a chemist and in the business world, holding both a BA in chemistry and a MBA in marketing & international business from UC Berkeley. Nora graduated with a MFA in new media & photography San Jose State University and currently resides in Palo Alto, CA.
Cristina Velazquez’s mixed-media pieces directly reference the role of women and the domestic environment. In a marriage of concept and materials, her work utilizes everyday materials found in the home to critique the societal notion of “women’s work” and the role that women have been expected to undertake in the home. Two of her pieces take the form of vintage, circa 1950s women’s dresses. With the piece, La Mujer Tiene Los Hijos (Women Give Birth to Children) dozens of handmade dolls are attached to the dress, and “climbing” up the skirt in reference to the role of women and child rearing. With La Mujer Limpia La Casa (Women Clean the House) layers of Cristina’s old kitchen rags are sewn onto the dress, as a reference to the responsibility of house cleaning. In other pieces, she takes materials such as scrubbing pads or feminine products like panty liners to create a skirt or chandelier form. Cristina was born in the port city of Lazaro Cardenas, in the state of Michoacan, Mexico. With her family, she moved to California when she was 12 years old and has pursued the dream of being an artist since she was a little girl. As the first in her family to go to college, she graduated with a BFA from San Jose State University. Cristina currently lives in Portola Valley, CA.
South First Fridays:
March 2, 2007, 8pm to late
Check out Domestic Alchemy in the gallery and Jaliya African drumming in MACLA's Castellano Playhouse!
and April 6, 2007, 8pm to late.
Join us for an eclectic evening of arts & culture in downtown San Jose’s SoFA District as local galleries are open late. www.southfirstfridays.com
Gallery Hours:
Wednesday & Thursday, 12noon to 7pm
Friday & Saturday, 12noon to 5pm
Free Admission
For more information please contact Anjee Helstrup- Alvarez at anjee@maclaarte.org.
*Special Thanks to CJ. & CJ. Ice Dist. for donating ice for Domestic Alchemy Opening
Image Credits:
Pared, Caleb Duarte, charcoal, acrylic, pencil & gesso on dry wall & wood, 2006
photograph by James Dewrance