"Los Cantores"

Reflections on the art of Carla Veliz, featured in the Instituto Cultural de México’s “Remarkable Paradigms” exhibit for International Women’s Month.

Staring at Carla Veliz’s Los Cantores, I swoon with the rhythms implied in its curves and undulating lines. I yearn to tap my feet in unison with the festive percussion of a geometrically rendered pineapple pattern in the background. I am inspired by the pair of lovers interlaced and framed within the voluptuous and fiery heart of a Latina, represented by a ruby mane shaped like a corazón. The two dance and jointly hold a malleable guitar as their figures intertwine indistinguishably. Who is strumming? Who is playing? Who is watching? None of it matters as the cantores fuse into one kaleidoscopic being, two Latinos singing, dancing and loving as one vivid manifestation of culture and passion.

I sit in another room, and yet again I cannot help but stare, fighting back my strict, traditional upbringing. My eyes open wide as a fascinated child’s, absorbing a vast landscape of muted tones, ochers and browns, rust and hints of the pale blue sky of yet another in a seemingly endless series of melancholically squandered afternoons fading into dusk. A swath of tattered screen spanning the vertical length of the canvas transports me to moments trapped behind a closed porch door, listening to the adults converse outside and yearning to be heard. The words grooved onto the canvas – “Tenia tanto que decir, pero nadie me escuchaba” – lament the unrequited desire for expression, for acknowledgement, for validation. “I had so much to say, but no one would listen.”

They say it’s not polite to stare, but in this case it’s okay because in studying Carla Veliz’s works of art you are taking a long, hard look at your self. Her works speak directly to the diverse soul of Latino culture: capturing a dazzling range of emotions and imagery, from figurative to abstract, from celebration to sorrow, from longing to loss, from shimmering beauty to foreboding darkness. But in her ambitious artistic odyssey, something magical happens amidst swirls of paint, explosions of wax and fragments of found objects colliding and fusing: Carla Veliz transcends her roots and her context. She taps into currents that run universally through all of us. Love, danger, joy, tragedy – at times surely experienced as a Latina raised along the US-Mexico border, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend – are presented in such a way through Carla’s paintings that we are reminded that the common truths that bind us together outweigh the nuances which render us unique.

Carla Veliz

I have always believed that the border is not just an end, but a beginning. Carla Veliz’s work is evidence of this optimistic concept. For not only did her life and career commence where our nations meet, but her oeuvre constantly reinforces the hope that the border can generate not only discord but harmony, not only chaos but order, not only war but peace. It is a reminder that through artistic expression diverse people and disparate visions – much like contrasting colors and incongruent materials – can be brought together and made whole.

In anticipation of an exhibit of Carla Veliz’s work by the Insituto Cultural de México in acknowledgement of International Women’s Month, I spoke with her in hopes of unearthing further insights into the artist and person behind the colorful canvasses. The interview follows in its entirety. By all means, feel free to leave your manners behind, become lost in the moment and stare. In doing so you may contribute not only to the fulfillment of the artist’s lifelong wish to be seen and heard but also to your own ongoing quest for self-discovery, enrichment and transcendence. After all, if Carla Veliz’s work teaches us anything, it’s that borders are meant to be crossed.

Rudy Ruiz: How has growing up on the border made it easy or natural for you to cross the line in your life? In terms of from one style of painting to another? From one professional role to another, painter to actress, art director/advertising professional to artist, mother/wife to entrepreneur? Drawing from Latino culture but speaking to a broader audience?

"I am neither from here, nor from there." 2008, mmoc, 60 x 72 in.

Carla Veliz: I believe that the versatility of my work has a lot to do with me being from a small border town. One must be willing to go up and down, right or left, fast and slow in order to survive. And in order to thrive, one must choose wisely, especially when you only are presented with one option. I had to stay or to go, and I left, but all of it remained with me as I started a new life in the US. As life went on I had to apply the same principal to all that I do and that I am. My life literally became a painting, other people started to find treasures in it, one by one, and then I realized it was taking great form, and I started to embrace it. By this I mean that what once was consider my handicap – “being Latina” – later on became my greatest asset. Even though I grew up right on the other side of the river, it took another country to allow me to come to terms with – and accept, love and embrace – the person I had been born to be.

Rudy Ruiz: What’s your ultimate goal with your art? How would you like to be remembered someday?

Carla Veliz: I tend to express what I feel, at times sadness, anger, or ecstasy, then at the end always find tranquility, peace, and hope. I do not want my art to be a monotonous repetition. My life is definitely not monotonous. If my art becomes too mechanical, I step back and start again, still going to the same destination but perhaps needing to create a new route. I just want to be a vehicle to the viewer, the one that encounters my work and might take a few more minutes to meditate upon my art. If my creations can touch one person, I will be more that content.

As far as how would I like to be remembered, well… that I lived, and loved, that I cried and cared, that I tried to be sensitive to all my surroundings and that all my dreams where based on reality.

Rudy Ruiz: Who are your most profound artistic influences?

"I had so much to say, but no one would listen." 2008, mmoc, 60 x 72 in.

Carla Veliz: The best colorist that ever existed: Henri Matisse. Of course, Pablo Picasso for his boldness and creativeness. The romance of Amedeo Modigliani portraits… I love the Mexican muralists – Tamayo, Rivera, Siqueiros, Orozco – their colors, forms, scale. Great admiration for Hans Hofmann. Applaud the works of Helen Frankenthaler & Joan Mitchell, two remarkable, strong female artists. Also deKooning, and Robert Rauschenberg’s works are amazing! I can go on and on, but like Alberto Mijangos often said, “We are all artists.” At first, I didn’t really get it, but now I think that yes, we all are, some are artists who actually create, and some who inspire.

Rudy Ruiz: Do you think it’s harder for Latino/Latina artists to break through on the US and global art scene?

Carla Veliz: Today, I don’t think it is as hard as it was before. More and more, our voices are being heard, and we are starting to matter. We have so much to share, and the world wants to listen. It could be mere curiosity or a trend, but as they get to know more about who we are and how we think, the walls of discrimination, stereotypes, apathy or ignorance start to crumble down.

Rudy Ruiz has been hailed as a cultural visionary. A published author and multicultural advocate, Ruiz is an acclaimed multicultural communications entrepreneur. He founded Red Brown and Blue as well as Interlex, one of the nation’s leading advocacy marketing agencies ranked by Ad Age as one of the Top US Agencies across all disciplines. Prior to that, Ruiz earned his BA in Government at Harvard College and his Masters in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.