Mosaic Lace.
Such a beautiful ring to it. A title when read or said aloud
could be construed as a beautiful tragedy. Not too long ago, I had the great honor of meeting an artist whose paintings I got to admire in person, each stroke touching me in ways I could not fathom. To later find out that the artist is Mexican and grew up in the area I currently live in was a plus. Maricela Aviña is the artist of the enticing collection that is Mosaic Lace. A collection of portraits of women filled with recognizable emotions that tend to leave a life changing mark. Each and every piece is drenched in passion making it difficult to look away. Maricela is inspired by life from every angle; her passions, her love, her stress, her fears, and her happiness, all spilled on to each art piece. But one of her biggest inspirations comes from a place most of us dread. A place where one is either brought in to or taken from the world. In my interaction with Maricela, she spoke of all the time she spent in hospitals throughout her life due to sick relatives, and how much death has inspired her work. While some may be uncomfortable with illness or a deteriorating corpse, Maricela being the strong, passionate women that she is, chose to ‘highlight beautiful moments in an otherwise painful process’. Being able to see beauty in pain is a gift in itself, making the journey of life a whole lot easier. Within Mosaic Lace lie individual portraits portraying exactly that; beauty in the ugly. It is a collection of women in their most vulnerable, fragile states, taking their heartbreaking experiences as fuel for courage and strength, allowing them to glow from the inside out.
A project by the name of ‘Las Santas’, the saints, is next on Maricela’s agenda. A project, or any of hers for that matter, I anticipate will be another masterpiece exuding of raw emotion and passion. Something I had to ask, and will ask of future ‘chingonas’, is what being a Latina means to her.
“Being Latina to me means powerful, strength, passionate and dedicated.”
iamlacorona.com 