Cristi López is Painting a New Story with "Unravel: Portraits of My Obsessions"
Written by Natalia Herrera
Photos by Cookie Estés
My friends regularly lie to me about dinner reservations to ensure I have an hour grace period to arrive. It seems as if running late is a natural characteristic of Latin culture, so it was wonderful to learn that both Cristi Lopez, the artist, and I, the writer, were running late to our interview.
Throughout the pre-show interview, people waited besides us to praise Cristi and her work. She gracefully thanked each person and sought to remember their names and details. People came from all over to meet her. The pre-interview felt as intimate as the opening of “Unravel: Portraits of My Obsessions” as we celebrated her thirtieth birthday with ice cream cake.
In the first interview Lopez did with Hooligan magazine, the idea that she “needed to use [her] hands” stood out to me. As we sat down, I asked her to elaborate on this concept. She shrugged and said, “I want paint to look like paint.” Her art doesn’t shy away from paint strokes and texture. When she is creating, she plans everything beforehand: colors, lines, shapes, influences, and so on. She thinks through all the layers before the paint brush touches her canvas.
“It is a push and pull,” she explained, “but my art can be seen from any distance.” Lopez accomplishes this by carefully planning throughout the first half of her creation process, so that the second half of her process is allowing the paint to be “dirty” and abstract. When she begins physically painting, she allows her hands the freedom to speak. Everything Lopez wants to communicate is proactively incorporated, so the rest is up to the moment of creation.
As a Latina, I was captured by the depth of her artwork. The more time I spent with a piece, the more I connected to it. In my preparation for the interview, I found myself having to look away from her website. Details like La Guadalupana, the long braids, the thick eyebrows, el cafecito within a group of women, and the scissors reminded me of my childhood; images that filled my parent’s home, my school, and the culture that raised me.
I had a million connections to ask about, but in the end, I found Lopez to be more insightful than I could have imagined. Her work explores tensions and ambiguity as “life is about exploration.”
“It is equal parts strength and softness,” Lopez elaborates with a smile, “It is unapologetic!” In the quiet moment that followed, we talked about our abuelas. The strength of their character, their unshakeable spirit, and their complete alienation from opportunity. Lopez said with a soft smile, “it is my responsibility to them to create and take advantage of these opportunities.”
As she started speaking on her opportunities, a buyer was introduced to us by her publicist. He had purchased a few of her pieces in the past, and he had stopped by early this afternoon to buy another. He mentioned his wife, in particular, was a fan of this collection. As he detailed where he showcased her art at his home, she asked him to send her photos. He exclaimed, “I have a folder in my phone with all the photos of where my artwork is hung! It is a source of pride: I love to see where my art finds a home!”
Lopez’s art show “Unravel: Portraits of My Obsessions” features clear silhouettes of the human body composed to illustrate stillness and movement. The abstract flows throughout the painting, sometimes touching the silhouettes, other times existing in the background. Each painting tells a story grounded in the human experience.
As Lopez explained, her pieces intentionally signal familiar imagery like the female body before diving into a multifaceted composition of identity, culture, mental and physical health. The painting may have influences from “Dominican folk, western figures and catholic symbols,” but I imagine they have a new story to tell in its new home.
The man tells Lopez that one of her pieces is in his hallway, but laughs that his wife will probably reorganize their art to prepare for her new piece. As I listen to their warm exchange, I imagine the couple’s home as a museum: how each piece of art and its curation tells their own personal story. For a second, it feels like our abuelas choose that moment to emphasize how beautiful it is that their story as well as Lopez’s story begin to tell a new tale.
To me, Lopez’s art isn’t inherently political because it speaks to my own understanding of the human experience. However, I know as a person whose reproductive rights and autonomy is up for debate, to be anything other than quiet is an act of rebellion. In creating the art for this show, Lopez spent a lot of time planning and researching. She said, “I went through so many archives! Some I knew from school, but I kept thinking, ‘Who touched these archives? Who created these archives?’ Those questions started reframing the feminine for me.”
“I didn’t mean to be political when I first started!” she exclaims. “I drew people as I knew them. The feminine is dynamic with intonations of violence because that is how I understand it.” Her work speaks to the intersectionality of identity. She lives as a Latin artist and mental health advocate within the LGBTQ+ community whose life and art acts as a defiance to the norm. Her existence is political!
Take for example, the scissors in some of her pieces. They are sharp and sleek to cut, yet cushioned and gentle to hold – invoking the feminine. Scissors also subvert the idea that crafts are women’s work, while art is men’s work. Finally, scissors arethe playful innuendo we all wanted me to include.
As I am not an artist myself, it struck me how wonderful it must feel to influence physical spaces across time and space. It struck me how important art is to redefine and expand our understanding of the world.
“I want paint to look like paint.”
Cristi López
The gallery opening felt intimate and warm. One man whispered, “She did all this in two months!” A few strangers asked for my favorite pieces while another stood with me for a half an hour discussing our individual interpretations. I have been to other opening nights, and it was rare to feel the shared admiration of strangers.
As I said goodnight to Lopez, it dawned on me that I hadn’t asked her most of the pre-interview questions I had. In the time we talked, I’d forgotten what I knew and learned something new. Like Lopez’s inviting personality, her art calls for connection and acceptance between the old and the new, the feminine and the masculine, to inspire exploration.
If you have time, check out Lopez’s show “Unravel: Portraits of My Obsessions” at A Very Serious Gallery (673 N Milwaukee Ave) until May 15th.