It’s easy to say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” but when you look at Mal Lopez’s art, human nature begins to take precedence. Looking at her intricate jewelry designs, which combine diligent design with traditional folk art in a seemingly effortless way, you can see that, in a vague way, she inspires those interested with fantastical and mythical stories about the natural world. I felt that he might be a creator who entertains.
While it’s true that the nature and culture of her native Puerto Rico heavily influences Lopez’s designs, there’s also a real-world austerity behind many of her pieces. When I talk to her at her home in South Park, where she recently relocated her studio after spending seven years in Barrio Logan, I learn that much of her work, from necklaces and brooches to pins and earrings, is made in society. It has become clear that it deals with important issues. Resistance, culture, and the unreliability of history.
“I’d like to say I’m very planning and sketching, but I’m very project-based,” Lopez says. “Yes, I start with sketches, but in the end everything around me is very influential. Everything I read or what is happening in the city also influences me. I end up giving. I am constantly receiving pushback from my surroundings.”
“Objectos de Resistencia” by one of the jewelry artists, Mar López, is exhibited at “La Frontera” at the International Folk Art Museum.
(Courtesy of Mingei International Museum)
Although her artistic approach seems instinctive right down to abstraction, there is something to be said for Lopez’s unique methodology. Although her work is superficially light-hearted and aesthetic, much of it is research-oriented and addresses political and cultural issues.
“One side tells the other what I’m working on and thinking about,” she said. “I’m flexible and shape my work to fit my life. I’m not going to sit down and create something or write something unless I’m fully prepared for research.”
She went on to talk about a series of recent works that resulted from witnessing Puerto Rico’s “changing landscape” after Hurricane Maria in 2017. López grew up in San Juan and spent most of her life there, so issues of colonialism and environmental protection figure well into her thinking.in art website editor Last year, she wrote that she hoped her work would tell “stories that break with colonial legacies about what knowledge is and who is included in its creation.”
A multimedia piece by San Diego artist Mar López inspired by the Puerto Rican flag.
(Courtesy of Mar Lopez)
“I’ve always been very vocal about the colonial situation in Puerto Rico,” López continued, noting that while her work doesn’t often directly address issues such as colonialism or political issues, she He went on to talk about the fact that his work is conceptual. Being influenced by Puerto Rican culture is itself a kind of corrective to the way the island’s artisanal culture is viewed and consumed.
“I was thinking about the colonial situation and how Puerto Ricans are resisting this, so this piece became much more political than anything I’ve ever made before. ,” Lopez said.
Although she has become more confident in her work over the years, Lopez admits that she didn’t always know she wanted to be an artist. Growing up in San Juan, she often knitted lace with her grandmother and others. Mundiro Island tradition. Still, when it came time for her to attend college, she decided to major in Latin American history at the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan.
“I’ve always been creative and crafty and have been guided by them in a way, but that was definitely not the professional path I would have chosen,” said the current author of Education and Engagement. says Lopez, who is also the manager of . Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. “I never thought I would turn to the art world and devote myself to it. For me, it came later.”
López said that his experience studying Latin American history influenced his subsequent artistic endeavors. Until recently, she had never consciously connected the two, but looking at her art, a fluid and conceptual form of jewelry making and craft, her experiences have inspired her. There is evidence that it is influencing practice.
“Now I can see a lot of what I left behind and what I regained,” said Lopez, who spent time in New York City, Italy, and recently spent time at graduate school in Asheville, North Carolina, honing her skills. Told. She moved to San Diego in 2012.
“Now that I’m in my 40s, I think I’ve realized over time that all of this has influenced my jewelry and artwork. Now I see it, and it’s so obvious. . Now I’m consciously doing that. I’m thinking about things like this while I’m making it.”
“Siempre Commigo” is a jewelry piece by San Diego artist Mar Lopez.
(Courtesy of Mar Lopez)
“This stuff,” as she puts it, can be informed by a variety of things. For many people, jewelry is both functional and decorative. Often, it’s the results that matter, not the story behind them. López’s work challenges this perception with equal parts hypnotic, gorgeous, conceptual and intellectual.
Her work includes stories about her ancestors and culture, drawn from both history and her own life. López uses both natural and man-made materials and utilizes both textiles and metallurgical processes to create unique pieces that straddle the line between fine art and high fashion.
“I started living in San Diego and working at the Folk Art (International Museum), which definitely made me think and reflect on my work,” Lopez recalls. “I started thinking about how to represent these functional objects. There is often a disconnect between the maker and the viewer. There is a disconnect between how things are made.”
López will return to folk art later this month for La Frontera, an ambitious group exhibition featuring more than 85 contemporary jewelers whose work explores the myriad complexities of the Mexico-U.S. border. . The traveling exhibit on folk art will open on January 27th and run until August 4th, in conjunction with a concurrent exhibition at CECUT-Centro Cultural Tijuana (opening on February 6th).
For this exhibition, López has created a series of “souvenir” style postcards, some of which feature small pins or brooches with the words “Greetings from…” above the pins. The characters are written in a playful manner. Again, López points out that while these works may seem bizarre on the surface, they deal with themes of “questioning language and place” and the “erased history” of the San Diego/Tijuana region. Did.
“Greetings from Otay Mesa” by San Diego artist Mal Lopez.
(Courtesy of Mar Lopez)
For example, an article dedicated to La Jolla explores the origins of the neighborhood’s name. Although most people claim that “La Jolla” simply means “jewel” in Spanish, the name was actually derived from Spanish colonizers’ name for the area’s Kumeyaay indigenous people (“cave” or “cave”). It may have originated from an incorrect transcription when adopting the word “hole” (meaning “hole”). ) was interpreted as “jewel”.
“We have this lineage here because the Kumeyaay people call it the land of the caves,” Lopez said. “So I was thinking about that, and this work uses objects related to that.”
Later in 2024, López will be participating in a group exhibition of a four-member collective of Latin American/Latinx jewelers (Colectiva Tilde). The exhibition is intended to coincide with the North American Goldsmiths Association Conference in June and the recent World Design Capital honor event in San Diego/Tijuana.
“Toda la Vida” is a jewelry piece by San Diego artist Maru Lopez.
(Courtesy of Mar Lopez)
“If I hadn’t learned what I learned here, I don’t think I would be making the work I’m making now,” she said. “Living in this area, so close to the border, these things have influenced me. Living here makes me think about home, but it also makes me think about my relationship with America. I don’t think I would have thought about those things if I hadn’t been here in San Diego.”
“Maybe I’m finally at the moment where I understand it,” she later added. “It’s a place where I can step back and admit that I’ve always done this kind of work, but now I can do it more consciously. I can see more clearly.”
name: mar lopez
to be born: san juan, puerto rico
Fun fact: Lopez, who studied contemporary jewelry design at Alchimia Contemporary Jewelry School in Florence, Italy, says she was often encouraged to take a more “minimalist” approach to her work. But she added that her “punk rock mindset” always kept her coming back to her unique designs.
“La Frontera”
when: It opens on January 27th and runs until August 4th (a sister exhibit will be held at CECUT Centro Cultural Tijuana from February 6th to June 9th).
where: 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego
Admission fee: Free to $15
online: folkcraft.org
Combs is a freelance writer.
