With an upcoming artist demonstration, the Elverhoj Museum is looking to further amplify the voices behind the visions currently on display at the Solvang staple.
Under the Same Sun—the museum’s latest group show that opened in late April and runs through early July—showcases five featured artists’ contemporary works under the same roof.
Each artist will discuss their own unique approaches, techniques, tools, and motivations during a live demo and dialogue event at Elverhoj on Saturday, June 29, from 4 to 6 p.m.
Southern California-based painter Jacqueline Valenzuela—one of the show’s featured artists—will share personal insights about a specific passion that influenced her displayed pieces.
“I plan to highlight the ways in which lowriding has impacted not only my personal life, but also my art practice,” Valenzuela told the Sun in an email interview. “My artwork that is being exhibited touches on the various skill sets I have gained over the years both as a fine artist and a Kustom lowrider mural artist.”
A lowrider owner with professional auto shop experience, Valenzuela said she’s chiefly inspired by her perspective “as a woman in the largely male-dominated lowrider community.”
“The imagery that I’m pulling from highlights the aesthetics of women in the community, my own story as a woman who has spent time in the fine art profession as well as the automotive industry, and the various skill sets involved with painting and building lowriders,” she said.
One of the Elverhoj group exhibition’s themes is described as an exploration of “the diverse stratum of communal being,” which Valenzuela and fellow featured artists—Oscar Pearson, Narsiso Martinez, Priscilla S. Flores, and Luis Ramirez—emote through contemporary vignettes in forms of various visual media, according to press materials.
With each artist slated to take part in the Elverhoj Museum’s upcoming dialogue, attendees will have the chance to learn intimate details about various pieces in the show, including Valenzuela’s profoundly emotional painting, I Hurt the Whole Way Through.
“[It’s] actually a piece that is a bit more personal than what I typically tend to explore in my art,” said Valenzuela, who painted the piece during an “eight-month span after I dealt with pregnancy loss and fertility issues.”
Created with oil, aerosol, and gold leaf on canvas, I Hurt the Whole Way Through depicts four figures: a mother, a father, and two infants.
“Using reference images shot by my older sister, I pieced together a fabricated scene of a moment I have never even experienced,” Valenzuela said. “[I painted] myself and my fiancé, Mark, holding our children.
“I knew I would never be able to meet my twins, but maybe painting them would ease the pain a bit,” the artist explained. “The baby in my reference photos is actually my nephew, Eduardo … his presence in my life has brought such joy that I figured he would be a great subject to juxtapose my feelings of hurt and anger.”
While Valenzuela’s multi-faceted piece is full of colorful imagery, including an illustration of the artist’s pink 1975 Cadillac Eldorado, the twins are noticeably painted white, without facial features or expressions.
“Although I had considered imagining what the children would look like, I felt it was a disservice and decided to leave them as blank placeholders,” Valenzuela said. “[They’re] painted a bold white and they have gold leaf halos.”
The painter originally intended to sell I Hurt the Whole Way Through upon finishing the piece but later resolved to keep it forever.
“I had it available for sale for a few months with a gallery. However, as soon as I got it back, I decided to never put it up for sale. It’s a huge marker of a time in my life,” Valenzuela said. “Although the piece is rooted in a difficult time, it’s now a reminder of both mine and my fiancé’s strength and togetherness when facing heavy challenges and losses.”
Send stories of perseverance to Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 13-23, 2024.