ARTIST STATEMENT
The submitted work is a celebration of the best job ever! It is an exploration of combined areas of expertise. I am a multidisciplinary artist working, teaching, showing and selling in drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, jewelry/lapidary (cutting stones), printmaking and assemblage art. I created “She Loves Me” specifically for this show to extend a rose to the strong beautiful supportive women in my life. My current sculpture “Shesus” is a twist on an icon I grew up looking at, then again throughout art history college courses. It is an homage to relearning an accepted perception, the realization of the power of women, and the intuitive wisdom we seek in her loving open arms that we pass on to our daughters. My current printmaking invention derived from being hired by families through mortuaries to create death masks a memorialization of their loved ones’ faces they no longer get to see by creating a death mask; a mold of their face. This work inspired the idea of those who have never been able to see their loved ones. The project inspired painting thin layers into face molds for the sight-impaired communities as “Picture Day”. The thin layers become a durable plate to create several a raised graphic prints as a remembrance of their face when they were younger and/or to gift to other sight-impaired friends and family.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Teresa Castaneda began her journey in the arts early. By the time she was 19, she synchronously earned a B.F.A at MSU, juggled a photography internship with the Denver Art Museum, was an alternate instructor for a professor on sabbatical teaching metalsmithing and senior thesis portfolio photography at MSU, represented by William Havu and certified as a trade jeweler at the Revere Academy jewelry arts in California.
Her professional career spans from photo lab work to photojournalism, tabletop, weddings, portrait and portfolio photography, trade jeweler to private clients and jewelry stores designing, fabricating, carving waxes, casting in all precious metals, and cutting stones. Her drawings, and invented style in abstract painting, photography, and sculpture have been invited in hundreds of exhibitions, books, and publications such as the Denver Post, 5280, Westword “Colorado Creative”, Denver Voyage Magazine and local newspapers.
National recognitions include the National Museum of Women in the Arts Archive, KaBOOM national non-profit, and twice by the National Endowment for the Arts with a grant for her invention in printmaking called “Crinkleism”, then again for her positive impact on the community with the organization, she founded called ReArranging Denver / a zero waste project sustained with scavenged materials. The project bridges communities and local businesses through creative reuse workshops contracted by Denver County, Arapahoe County, Boulder County schools, libraries, and art affiliations. Art made from the project has been sold by over 20 Denver and Boulder retailers, the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and the Denver Art Museum.
© Teresa Castaneda