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CHA GUTIÉRREZ
Artist's Statement
As a diasporic Puerto Rican and Mexican American artist, my work explores the relationships between identity, matriarchy, ancestral memory, and the resilience of women. Through bold color, surreal natural elements, and expressive portraiture, I depict women as cultural caretakers, storytellers, and pillars of strength, while also examining the burdens they carry and the wisdom they pass down. My paintings move between the personal and the collective, often reflecting my own lineage, upbringing, and the shared experiences of Latina women.
I am especially drawn to the role of women as preservers of heritage, a theme that appears through recurring images of mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and ancestral figures. My work often includes landscapes that act as cultural markers. The Sonoran Desert reflects my Mexican American upbringing in the Southwest, while the lush rainforests of Puerto Rico honor my maternal lineage. By bringing these environments into my work, I explore the connection between land, memory, and identity, and the parallels between human resilience and the ecosystems that sustain us.
Themes of matriarchy, cultural storytelling, and intergenerational strength remain central to my practice. Pieces like The Mother Tree and Madre Tierra reimagine motherhood, community, and the unseen networks that connect women. Works like Trenza Ancestral and She Who Sits on the Internal Throne reflect on generational trauma, personal healing, and the weight of familial expectations, especially those placed on firstborn daughters in Latine households. My work creates space to hold both the challenges and the care that exist within these relationships.
While I primarily work in oil and acrylic, I have begun incorporating fiber elements as a way to honor textile traditions connected to women’s labor and storytelling. Influenced by embroidery techniques my great grandmother taught me, along with Mexican and Puerto Rican textile practices, I am exploring how thread, lace, and fabric can act as both physical and symbolic ties to lineage. This growing integration of fiber is an extension of my interest in carrying ancestral traditions into a contemporary context.
As my work continues to evolve, I aim to center the stories of other women and their family matriarchs through The Matriarch Series, an ongoing project that brings together portraiture, oral histories, and shared heirlooms. Through this work, I invite viewers to reflect on their own relationships with the women in their lives, the lessons passed down, the struggles endured, and the strength that continues across generations.
