Hand screen printed posters for our current exhibition Boundless. Each poster is signed and numbered but unique in color.
From the artist:
My mother is Maria Cruz, my grandmother is Eloisa Saavedra and my great-grandmother is Isidora Saavedra, matriarchs of the Otomi people. I am a body of water. I was born in southern California, and my family is from “Michoacán/Guanajuato” . I am an Indigenous queer artist living in occupied Duwamish Territory (Seattle, WA). Art filled my house growing up- my siblings and I spent the days re-creating the art we admired on TV or in the black and white copies of paintings my mom photocopied from the public library and taped around the house. As I navigated higher education my art saved me when I felt overwhelmed by the pressure of working full time and going to school full time. I always found myself gravitating towards art, making art for friends and family but always reminding myself that my art was not real art, because I did not have formal art training. Throughout the years I have realized that I do not need formal training for the art I create. My soul speaks through my art. In my art you will see the aesthetics of my Mexican and Otomi stories. In my art, you see the visual representation of my soul, and the colors, the culture, the visions and the dreams that live there. My business name, Maese: Art by Eileen Jimenez, is in honor of my mother, Maria Cruz Jimenez, the true maese (teacher/renaissance person) of my life.
In my current body of work I focus on the embodiment of the divine that is manifested through our bodies and our hands specifically. I use linocut and mixed media techniques to develop my own ways of telling stories in the complex layers that they exist in and to demonstrate the ways that we are connected to the Land and to each other.
Currently:
I am enjoying learning about myself, reflecting about my experiences and healing. I work full time at a community college supporting students navigate higher education and trying to dismantle white supremacist and institutional racist policies and structures. I am currently in an EdD in higher education program at the Muckleshoot Tribal College and the University of Washington, Tacoma. I am loving reading and learning and you will probably see the themes of decolonized education in my current body of work.
On my free time, I love exploring new places, swimming in lakes and waterfalls with my partner, and cuddling with my cute and eccentric cat.
