Colossal · Creativity & design

Clotilde Jiménez's Mixed-Media Collages Explore Family Lineage and Silence

Artist Clotilde Jiménez uses vivid collages of paper and fiber to explore his mixed heritage and family history, drawing on cultural and political contexts from his diverse background.

Jiménez, born in Honolulu to a Puerto Rican mother and African-American father, grew up in Philadelphia and studied in Cleveland and London. His work incorporates magazine clippings, Mexican craft paper, and fabrics to create dense portraits of his family and archetypal depictions of Blackness and masculinity.

Pieces like "China de Mayagüez" feature fragments of burlap and woven strips, depicting a young Jiménez with a family member portrayed as a jíbaro, evoking Puerto Rican subsistence farming traditions.

Other works, such as "The Nightcall," feature a woman in blue light, surrounded by black birds and cacti, with a bouquet in hand. The "Flower Portal" series draws on Dutch still life paintings, incorporating fish, faces, and light to reference life's fleeting nature and simple joys.

Jiménez's recent exhibition, "Éramos silencios" (We Were Silent), delves into family silences and unspoken secrets, particularly those unknown to children. He describes these pieces as visualizing a "revelation" about a history of abuse.

The artist shared a personal story about his grandmother revealing that his grandfather was actually his uncle, who raised him. This revelation provided a more objective understanding of past behaviors and silences within the family.

The collages in the exhibition aim to explore how silence shapes individuals from a young age. The show is on view through October 31 at Marianne Ibrahim's Chicago gallery.

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