The Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art in St. Joseph welcomes the new exhibition, A Scattering of Jades on Feb. 27 with a reception from 4-7 p.m. Curated by Kimberly Kitada, it features the work of Kansas-City-based-artists Kiki Serna and César López.
The exhbition's title is a reference to an anthology of the same name which collects Aztec stories, poems and prayers. López said the process of storytelling is an important aspect of the exhibition.
López spoke with KXCV’s Gavin McGough ahead of the opening.
Gavin McGough: This is a joint exhibition between you and Kiki Serna. Talk about your collaboration as artists.
César López: I think because we both emigrated to this country, we have a lot of similarities in the way we're responding to the things we’re experiencing, and so what I find most interesting between our works of art is how differently we're excavating similar ideas. I understand where she's coming from because her experiences are very similar to the things that I'm studying.
GM: Tell us about those experiences you're exploring in your work.
CL: Kiki is from Mexico and I came to America from Guatemala. And so, what you're sort of articulating here is: how do you talk about a different place while you're here in the United States? Or: how do you talk about being a fellow traveler? [We address those questions] in various ways.
Kiki is combining personal photography and the letters that her parents exchanged, which articulate a location here in the United States and a location in Mexico. And that is a key concept here: the location here versus there, because in my work, what you're going to see are sculptures constructed out of aluminum -- a sort of white aluminum plastic.
If you pay attention, if you look closely, they don't have a lot of detail, but what they do have is a structural component: a rivet. Each piece has two rivets which hold these pieces together: imagine, like coming from point A to point B.
And for me, the articulation of a place within travel is much more depicted geometrically. But what I find so valuable is that our work is in fact talking about a similar experience.
GM: What is it like for you to be in the studio? Is it an easy process or is it something that you constantly have to rededicate yourself to?
CL: For me, I actually really, really enjoy it. I see myself as someone who has to convert my studio into something that is, I would say, rather untraditional as an artist. A lot of the art made now is done on a computer and they're using manufacturers, but I actually enjoy learning all these processes and educating myself in industrial processes.
It’s kind of like owning a sports team, you know, there are just so many skills that I’m interested in, and I don't feel like my interest really wanes. I get excited even more when there's an opportunity to learn a new skill.
