feria material
FEBRUARY 8-11, 2024
BOOTH B20 // EXPO REFORMA // CDMX
Residency Art Gallery is proud to announce our participation in the 2024 edition of Feria Material. Our artist, Daniela García Hamilton has been selected to showcase her solo presentation titled, Temporary Resident. Please join us at Expo Reforma in Mexico City at Booth B20.
The exhibition title - Temporary Resident - is significant because it refers to legal status that identifies immigrants who have been granted temporary access to the country. It is representative of a set of privileges, obligations and powers or limitations within the context of a title held by a person imposed by the law like marital status. A temporary resident has the ability to transition to a permanent resident, but may be denied and the card holder will lose their privilege of residency, both in the country and in their family’s lives. “Temporary Resident'' consists of 8 mixed media paintings, melding, embroidery and other mark making materials. The works explore the idea of temporary residence in the sense of immigration and marital status in the context of a family unit. The work documents scenes of domestic encounters throughout various timelines. The concept of legal and marital status embodies my personal reflections of how these titles lead to transient parents and their impact on the way that their children engage in rituals such as birthdays and religious celebrations as adults. The fear of losing residency status has haunted my family throughout my youth. Comparable to the death or abandonment of a guardian, loss of status results in deportation and the deterioration of a family relationship.
The environments that the subjects in my paintings inhabit are a blend of the family rituals I recall as a child; for example watching my cousins engage in celebrations without their parental guardians or with substitute guardians such as godparents. These works draw parallels between the American and Mexican culture, such as my partner’s childhood celebrations as it charters a transient adolescence due to divorce. The embroidery in the works serves as a vehicle in which these timelines are physically connected as the strings cross from various points, unseen to the viewer on the back of the works. Merging oil painting with antiquated skills like embroidery passed on by my grandparents, creates fluid scenes that unite these timelines together and form a bridge between the American and Mexican experience in the absence of a parent.
Don Victor en Guadalajara // 2023 // Embroidery and oil on canvas // 14x14in
Photo by Elon Schoenholz
About the ArtisT
DANIELA GARCÍA HAMILTON
Daniela Garcia Hamilton (b.1995) is a first generation Mexican-American painter. Her work explores the rituals and traditions she experienced as a child of immigrant parents. Color and pattern is integrated throughout her work as she describes the vibrancy of her traditions through portraits of her family members. Settings are fabricated to draw attention to social-political commentary on past and current immigrant experiences. As she completed her B.F.A. at CSULB, she began to reflect on her traditions through the American lens. American tile patterns are used as the veil through which she remembers these events. She is currently an MFA candidate and the recipient of the Charles Gaines Fellowship at CalArts. Her work has been exhibited throughout the California Coast, with galleries such as Artbug Gallery, TAG Gallery, Luna Anais Gallery, Artshare LA, the Irvine Fine Arts Center, Residency Art Gallery and Thinkspace Projects. She has been a keynote speaker for the undocumented commencement at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and continues to hold a strong connection to her Mexican-immigrant roots.