"Discolored, Misshapen, Broken", "Un Rinconcinto", "Vestiges"

Presa House Gallery hosts solo exhibitions for artists Suzy González ("Discolored, Misshapen, Broken"), Allison C. Valdivia ("Vestiges) and Ruben Luna ("Un Rinconcito"). Suzy González received her MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and her BFA from Texas State University. "Remembering a time when I would help my mother pick out the “bad beans,” I’ve realized the tendency to discard those that are seen as discolored, misshapen, or broken. This can be seen as a metaphor for societal difference and acts as a starting point for the exhibit. The threats of our current political situation have resulted in a loss of faith in government for many of us. Through chant and ritual, we can gain a new faith in the people and the power we collectively hold. In creating decorative protest signs, I fuse art and activism and mark a chapter in time of our contemporary civil rights struggle". Ruben Luna was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas and graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a Bachelors degree in Art History. "Call it bricolage, rasquache, jugaad or hack, many cultures reference the innovative fix on the spot. A necessity to seek a simple work-around that at time requires the need to bend the rules. A creative solution to make new things with meager resources. That ability to be resourceful and make do is a common theme in my work. I improvise inexpensive readily available objects to create personal artworks that serve to pay tribute to a person or story in my life. I draw inspiration from my grandfather who would craft homemade welding equipment to create decorative fences and window guards, and my wife’s grandfather who turned his metal hard hats, collected over years of working as a union construction worker, into planters for his fruit trees". Allison C. Valdivia is a visual artist and former military brat who found her way to San Antonio, Texas. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Texas in San Antonio, graduating in the Spring of 2016 with a concentration in Painting/Drawing and a minor in Art History. " I am exploring the heartbreak and disarray that occurs between broken families. I see the constant pattern of absence with the fathers, husbands, and lovers in my family as a generational absence. I uncover old family photographs, and blow the tiniest of them up into a larger size, exploiting the void that has occurred in our lives. Some of the photographs I've recovered show a trace of an action, having been ripped up, or cut away, or scotch taped. These actions act as a narrative for me, as I play the part of the historian trying to understand what took place chronologically throughout my family history".