As I was feeling my way thru life post-pandemic in 2021, I began dreaming + preparing for my first solo art show in my own hood. Fritz Aragon, the owner of Urge Palette Art Supply in downtown Riverside, got used to the sight of me coming in to the shop and printing giclées of my digital drawings.

Everyone wants to know what giclées [zee-klays] are. Giclée prints are made with pigment-based archival inks to create museum-level quality with vibrant colors authentic to the original design, with a lifespan of over 100 years before any noticeable fading. Each print is one of a kind. Like what else can I say about giclées, you know? I really fell in love with the process — giclées have the look and feel of gouache paintings (a medium I first discovered in college), the colors rich and true, the lines crisp, the finish reminiscent of tempera paint from childhood. This printing process helped me reconcile the existential dread that I went thru every time I saw my digital drawings as intangible things, existing only within my iPad.

Printing giclées brought really brought my art to life. It gave me a new creative language to explore.

It was Fritz that suggested I have an art show at Pain Sugar Gallery featuring all giclée works on paper, something not very often seen in the art community. His support of my work really pushed me in the direction of truly inhabiting my higher self, the artist. From the start, I didn’t want to create a theme for the show, I wanted it to weave itself naturally and of course it truly did. In the process of that weaving, I created eleven new drawings that are the foundation of the Innerspace show.

innerspace

Innerspace is all about our inner worlds, our visions, our dreams + the deeply held truths we uncover about ourselves and the world all on our own, our inner knowing as the guiding light.

Innerspace explores our inner spaces — the magic in the liminal spaces we inhabit, the ephemeral, the unseen, the divine. So much of Innerspace is about rediscovering those parts of myself, really unpacking all of the truths and then alchemizing them into something beautiful, into art. That is how the Innerspace show came to be.

The energy was hella magickal. Everything about that day was beautiful. My intention was beautiful, the weather was beautiful, the art was beautiful, the plants were beautiful, the altar was beautiful, all of the people in attendance were beautiful. I felt beautiful and very much standing in my power as an artist.

Having four generations present at my first solo exhibit in my hometown feels wild. And very healing.

Creating a Divine Mother altar was an important aspect of this show. Uplifting the mother + safe spaces for femmes to freely exist are core themes of Innerspace and I innerstand that in order for me to truly tap in to this energy, I am to present my offerings. So I gathered the white cloth, the candles, the seashells, the sage + sand from the river bottom, the agua sagrada, the beautiful white rock from Cahuilla land, amethyst crystal to bring in that watery, Piscean energy and chamomile flowers — the mother plant.

Just before the show opened, my dear friend Belen blessed the space with copal, smudged us with smoke + together we all honored the four directions.

It felt so affirming to have my community come out and support the space + my art.

I wanted to collaborate with community and so I called in Ana from Luna Florals and she created a plant installation inside the gallery. I loved that the Divine Mother in Blue piece is flanked by beautiful plants and the altar.

Taking in all of my hard work with my sister from another mister. I really threw myself into this work — out of survival, to begin a new life — and my good sis was with me each step of the way.

As long as my children are proud of me, as long as we stay riding with each other, loving one another through it all, I think I will make it through this life and continue making more art.

Adorned with moonstone, turquoise and Larimar from Karlita Designs. Larimar is said to enlighten and bring peace, representing peace and clarity, radiating love energy + I truly felt it’s magic.

I’m so happy I had the support of the art community at Urge Palette and Pain Sugar Gallery. Including the community at the Innerspace opening was important because I wanted to open the space for other creative entrepreneurs so there was also coffee service and a beautiful pear blossom herbal tea that Peter and Ambar put together, sounds by Agua of Milpa Musica and delicious plant-based Mexican food by Marysols to name a few.

I’m proud of myself and I’m proud of being from the I.E. This felt like a full circle moment for me + I’m so grateful for seeing this creative vision come to life.

For any inquiries about the art in show, please email denise@pearmama.com