Three solo exhibitions: Erika Osborne • Daphne Sweet • Angelica Raquel

LOCATION: Visions West Contemporary - 2605 Walnut St

CATEGORIES: Art Events | First Fridays

UPCOMING DATE AND TIME:

• Fri, Feb 7, 2025 - Fri, Mar 14, 2025  

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Visions West Contemporary is thrilled to announce the opening of three captivating solo exhibitions: Erika Osborne: The Love Language of Fire, Daphne Sweet: She Rides the Sky and Angelica Raquel: ¡Ánimo! Remember You’re Magic! These exhibitions explore themes of environmental resilience, mythic landscapes, and feminine power through dynamic and thought-provoking works. Opening Reception: February 7, 2025, 6:00 - 8:00 PM

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Angelica Raquel: ¡Ánimo! Remember You’re Magic!

Inspired by her family and the culture she grew up with in Laredo, Angelica Raquel draws from shared stories, familial experiences, and her life from the border to central Texas. Acting as a new generational storyteller, Raquel explores narratives rooted in folklore and the stories told by her late grandfather. By retelling and reinventing these tales through a multitude of mediums, Raquel’s work brings oral traditions into a physical presence, expanding on leyendas (legends) that teach lessons, societal shifts, family roles, and examine mankind's relationship with nature and the unknown. Ominous warnings towards ill-intending men and magical women acting as protectors of the innocent are constant themes throughout the work, placing importance on the archetype and roles of women in families and communities. Many of her stories can be traced to named relatives within the family, who recount their experiences with wonder and a little fear. In recent works, Raquel tells her own experiences as a young girl connecting to nature, reminiscing on the magic around the animals and land that once made up her family's beloved ranch. Her multidisciplinary studio practice, which includes painting, drawing, metal tooling, felting, and rug hooking, acts as the different voices through which a story can be told. Raquel’s use of craft techniques and Latin folk art motifs aims to elevate and honor her ancestors and the visual language and stories she grew up with.

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Daphne Sweet: She Rides the Sky

In She Rides the Sky, Daphne Sweet delves into the mythic landscapes of the American West, where starry horses and golden cows serve as symbols of feminine power and transformation. Drawing from personal narratives and Western mythology, Sweet's works traverse boundless skies and endless horizons, presenting themes of freedom, resilience, and self-discovery. Blending intricate detail with expansive, contemporary compositions, Sweet reimagines archetypes through the interplay of myth and reality. The starry horse embodies untethered grace, while the golden cow offers a grounding presence, together creating a visual dialogue that celebrates the enduring strength and complexity of women within vast and storied spaces.

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Erika Osborne: The Love Language of Fire

Erika Osborne's The Love Language of Fire examines the evolving relationship between humanity and wildfire in the forests of the western United States. Once a vital force nurturing ecosystems, wildfire has become catastrophic due to a legacy of fire suppression, poor forest management, and human-induced climate change. Yet, Osborne's work reveals the astounding resilience of these woodlands-how they heal through the emergence of plant medicines and the regeneration of flora such as Aspen, Fireweed, and Lupine.

These paintings serve as Osborne's attempt to reconcile the dominant Western narrative that categorizes fire as destructive, rather than restorative. Through detailed observation of burnt forests, Osborne takes on the role of apprentice to nature, presenting wildfire as an alternative remedy for ecosystems in need of healing.

(image: Erika Osborne, First Responders, 2024, oil on canvas, 45 x 60 inches)