For as long as I can remember, Herlinda Sifuentes de Aragón, my mother, would keep her hands busy creating. She would cook, bake, knit, crochet, and sew among many other activities. She would do this out of necessity to care for her family, but also as a means to enjoy her free time. She was a creator of love.

As a kid, I would wear many of her creations, sweaters, socks, etc. I also slept many cold nights warmed up by blankets she had knitted, and as a teenager I would ask her to sew rock and metal band patches to my beloved denim jacket. During her lifetime, she tried her hand at various crafts, but nothing captured her attention as much as knitting and crochet did. For many years, she would create a large number of scarfs, blankets and baby outfits, which she would then donate to the Hospital de la Mujer (Hospital for Women) in Juárez, México.

After she passed away on March 15, 2019, I traveled several times to her home in Juárez; these trips became a research platform where I re-lived moments I had spent with her, as well as sort through and document memories that have been imprinted on physical items like the elephant ceramic figurines she collected, and objects she created with her hands.

The body of work included in this exhibition is created as a direct conversation between us. My intension is to create artwork from a personal narrative while attempting a universal understanding of mortality and cultural experiences.

I would like to thank everyone at the following organizations for providing access to their facilities, their guidance, and above all, their unconditional support: Flatbed Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Austin, TX; KALA Art Institute, Berkeley, CA; The Morgan Conservatory, Cleveland OH; Slugfest Printmaking Workshop & Gallery, Austin, TX; Lake Effect Editions, Syracuse, NY; and La Scuola Internazionale di Grafica Venezia, Italy.

Support for this project was provided by a PSC-CUNY Award, jointly funded by The Professional Staff Congress and The City University of New York.

Bio

Miguel A. Aragón was born in Juárez, México. He lives and works in New Yourk City (USA) and Berlin (Germany); he is an Associate Professor of Printmaking, Department of Performing & Creative Arts, College of Staten Island, The City University of New York. Aragón has exhibited internationally at venues including the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Saratoga Springs, NY; Uferhallen, Berlin, and the Society of Northern Alberta Print-Artists, Canada, to name a few. His awards and residences include NYSCA/NYF Artist Fellowship; KALA Art Institute fellowship and residency, Berkeley, CA; East London Printmakers Keyholder Residency, England; The Scuola Internazionale di Grafica Venezia fellowship, Italy; and Till Richter Museum, Buggenhagen, Germany among others. His work is held in collections including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago; and Minneapolis Institute of Art. Aragón’s work has been published in A Survey of Contemporary Printmaking (Greenville, NC: Wellington B. Gray Gallery, 2012), ¡Printing the Revolution¡: The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now (Washington, DC: Smithsonian American Art Museum and Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2020) and more. In 2022, he was nominated for The Queen Sonja Print Award, Oslo; and was awarded the 2022 Southern Graphics Council International Mid-career Printmaker Award.