visual social satire | PAULINA CONSTANCIA MoNA

It has been many years since I went somewhere for the sole purpose of engaging with artists/artisans and other creative spirits. The last time was in 2016 at the International Meeting of Naïve Artists in Slovenia. I long for solo trips like this for they echo warm inspirations in my soul for many, many years!

This year, just before my 53rd birthday, I decided to return to Mexico. My last visit was in 1999. Although I got to visit the states of Oaxaca, Veracruz, Michoacan, I mostly stayed in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato during that stay which lasted over 3 months.

GUANAJUATO, 1999

Here are photos of me in San Miguel de Allende – Top L & R: Handbuilding Ceramics Class at the Instituto Allende, Bottom L: Hojalatería class at Instituto Nacionál de Bellas Artes (INBA), and Bottom R: Photo of me with a Japanese ceramic artist and our studio dog at the Clay Olé studio which was run by Canadian ceramicist Leslie Bergeron.

OAXACA, 2023

This time I searched where I should go to allow me to visit as many talleres (workshops/studios) and experience many different art forms/mediums as possible in one place. And all the roads led to Oaxaca! So, Oaxaca it was! I was originally supposed to stay for 2 weeks, but I had a nagging cough that just wouldn’t go away so I had to shorten my visit and commit to only a few things.

One was a 2 day workshop “Deshilado y Bordado” (Frayed and Embroidered) with master embroiderer Guadalupe Vásquez (bordados_donaji) at the Centro de Artes Textiles Oaxaca (CATO) in Oaxaca de Juárez.

The other was a day workshop and engagement with the “Hormigas Bordadoras” (Ant Embroiderers) of San Francisco Tanivet, a women’s artist coop in Oaxaca who developed their own visual language using appliqué and pattern.

I must say it has been a short but sweet and inspirational visit to Oaxaca. I will be sharing with you some details of these engagements in my succeeding posts, but just wanted to share photos with the wonderful people at CATO who made these interactions with these wonderful textile artists possible.

Photo with CATO Founder Alelí Hernandez

Photo with CATO Program Coordinator Antonio Peña

Centro de Artes Textiles de Oaxaca (CATO)
Centro de enseñanza, producción e investigación de artes textiles – Educational, production and research center for textile arts.

We just want to share with you the exciting news that Paulina Constancia has recently turned over two of her artworks from her collection “Tindahan sa Dalan/”Roadside Markets” (Obcestne stojnice- in Slovenian) to the Galerija likovnih samorastnikov Trebnje or the Trebnje Gallery of Naïve Artists. Formal turn over happened during the Closing Ceremony of the 49th International Meeting of Naïve Artists at the Trebnje Gallery of Naïve Artists in Slovenia on June 18. Paulina was one of the 8 naive artists invited to participate in the said meeting which took place in Trebnje Gallery from June 11 to 18, 2016.

Artwork #1COKEconuts
40 x 50 cm
mixed media art on paper by Paulina Constancia
“Tindahan sa Dalan/”Roadside Markets” collection, 2016
Now in the Permanent Collection of Trebnje Gallery of Naïve Artists, Slovenia

The vendor sells fresh coconuts – a very healthy food, while the vendor’s child is on her 3rd bottle of Coke. This piece shows the nutritional choices parents make for their children. This is always one of the challenges in the Philippines and anywhere in the world. More raw, natural food is essential in our diet. Ironically, as this image shows, even those who have easy access to that still have a curious preference for the unhealthier things in life. – P.Constancia

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Paulina Constancia handing over “COKEconuts” to Trebnje Gallery of Naïve Artists; artwork was received by Patricija Pavlič, Director of the Center for Education and Culture in Trebnje

Read “The Truth About Coconut Water”
Learn more about Coconut Nutrition Facts
Read “What a can of Coca Cola really does to your body”

Artwork #2
CORNtemplations
40 x 50 cm
mixed media art on paper by Paulina Constancia
“Tindahan sa Dalan/”Roadside Markets” collection, 2016
Now in the Permanent Collection of Trebnje Gallery of Naïve Artists, Slovenia

This piece shows that it is imperative that we are vigilant about the truths and lies about our food (its composition and cultivation) and how they affect human, animal and environmental health.

Bee colonies are collapsing around the world. Many experts believe that this is happening due to the large scale use of genetically modified (GM) plants.

Albert Einstein quote: “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”

This piece highlights the genetically modified maize variant called Bt Corn. As you can see the corn vendor’s name is Mon Santos, his nose is growing because he claims that he sells healthy food. Meantime, the old man at the bench is being enlightened on the matter, and the father and son are spreading the truth about Bt corn and GMOs.

In my hometown, corn growers and vendors tell buyers ‘yes, this is all natural, no pesticides”, you have to wonder if they are being outright deceptive or if they themselves have been deceived… – P.Constancia

Paulina Constancia handing over “CORNtemplations” to Trebnje Gallery of Naïve Artists; artwork was received by the gallery’s curator Andrejka Nose

Learn more about Bt Corn
Read “Monsanto and GMO Lies Revealed”