Opening Reception: Tuesday, May 21, 2024 | 5:00 – 8:00pm (RSVP below)
On view from 2pm on May 21 and until May 28 by appointment. Please contact info@residencyunlimited.org
Location: Cuban Artists Fund Studio, 208 E 51st St, 2nd Floor, New York, NY (map)
For Yanelis Mora Morales, Reconciliation as a title refers to her ongoing visual and emotional journey in New York. It is in New York that her perception of art underwent a deep transformation. It is also here that she experienced the worst moments of her life as well as a rebirth as an individual and an artist.
Morales’ textile-based works are conceived as mental maps resulting from the survival instinct she developed in New York. In her words, “maps are my best allies in panic situations”. With Reconciliation, viewers will discover the artist’s fascination with the Art Deco architecture of the city. They will delve into emotionally charged pieces that the artist refers to as “geographies of nature” where landscapes seen from a bird’s eye view perspective reference subjects of interest including architecture and concepts of motherhood.
The execution of each piece is a labor-intensive process. Trained as an actress in Cuba, for 16 years Morales helped to design many of her costumes and sets. She cuts, folds and dyes the fabrics herself. In particular, the Foundation Paper patchwork technique she employs offers a complete geometric labyrinth of hidden lines and numbers that Morales makes evident, to “put order and meaning in my head”.
As she advances in her map of Manhattan, the artist anticipates that “many things can still happen until the end result is reached but when it is finished it will be the beginning of a new stage in my life”.
About
Yanelis Mora Morales (b. 1984) is a Cuban actress and visual artist who works mostly with a patchwork technique called Fundación (“paper piecing”), making textile works on small and large format paper. In her process, she mentally maps impossible routes, found paths, and lost ones too. Instead of using canvas as the medium support, she fragments and re-assembles the pieces as mental spaces for survival or ways of finding herself. Read Yanelis’ full bio here.
This program benefits from the support of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Cuban Artists Fund.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
