Arts and Culture
The Memory Keeper
The Andy Gato Gallery housed the solo exhibition of Master of Fine Arts student Jahaira Rios-Galves from February 20-April 24. Rios-Galvez is a Nicaraguan-born artist who fled to the United States with her family when the Sandinistas took power in 1979. Now living in Cutler Bay with her husband and three children, Rios-Galvez says that memory, familial relationships, and all that they entangle play an important role in her work.
“I am always trying to understand myself and the things that drive me or cause me to be the way I am,” Rios-Galvez says. “Out of struggle and disappointment, I decided to create this body of work that makes hope tangible and holds onto what cannot be seen. Spanish writing is incorporated into my work because it is my first language and the one I usually revert to speaking when I feel strongly about what I need to say.”
The exhibition, along with her written thesis, is the final step in earning her MFA (Master of Fine Arts) degree. “Postal Paterno” is the title of the mixed media work pictured. |
