An installation created by 2019 MAD Artist Fellow Tamara Santibañez, Belt/Border is composed of ninety-four meticulously hand-painted pyramid studs. Rendered as pieces of iconic Mexican Talavera pottery piercing the gallery walls, the studs also reference punk adornments punched through jackets and belts. In this work, Santibañez considers the intersections of national, institutional, and personal boundaries and how we protect them.
About the Artist
Tamara Santibañez (b. 1987, Atlanta, GA) recently completed her artist fellowship at MAD, a program dedicated to promotng emerging artists from historically underrepresented communities. She draws from her holistic identity as it relates to the worlds of the American South, Mexican tradition, immigrant family dynamics, queerness, punk rock, and sadomasochism to piece together formative fabrics, sounds, sensations, and memories into physical relics. Using painting, sculpture, and textiles to cross-reference seemingly disparate parts of her cultural background, she uncovers commonalities and weaves connections otherwise unseen, creating artifacts that represent complexities not often granted to marginalized communities.
Belt/Border is organized by MAD Manager of Public Programs Lydia Brawner with support from Manager of Artist Studios and Docent Programs Marissa Passi.
The Artist Studios program is supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Inc. Principal support for the MAD Fellowship program is provided by Marcia Docter. Additional funding is provided by The New York Community Trust Van Lier Fellowship Program.
