I HAVE A BODY TO REMEMBER TO RETURN TO

Chinatown Soup is pleased to present I have a body to remember to return to, an exhibition of mixed media and conjured memory by artist-in-residence Ximena Prieto. Please join us for a reception on Thursday, October 3 from 6-9pm. This exhibition is Ximena’s first showing in New York and on view through October 6, 2019.

And now, a message from the artist…

There is a body I must remember to return to is both a lamentation and acknowledgement of the tendency to find comfort in a space of longing and the tension of attempting to embody the present while being drawn to chimeras just out of reach.

When I lost something as a child, I was told to summon San Aparicio, tie a string or ribbon, and recite half of the Padre Nuestro. Days or weeks later, if I had found that which had been misplaced, I would untie the knot and say the remaining half of the prayer in honor of he who had reminded me where to look.

Made by recalling images from a child's mind, my work conjures the intangible. Using overtly feminine materials, I aim to reach a space blurred by time, gender, and recollection, rejecting the idea that to exist and be “valuable” an idea must be useful or clarifying.

Feelings of melancholy and discomfort blend with soft tones, reflections, and natural materials to transform objects that were once owned by those who inspired the work or otherwise collected by me. This is my attempt to sketch the indefinite: fixating on the island where my maternal grandmother and aunt were born and raised and which has changed drastically in the past 50 years.

Presented pieces serve as an incomplete ritual and dialogue with this past through portions of a whole that can’t be found. Using fabric, embroidery, ribbon, and paint, they are the tangible representation of what lies in between, a mix of owned and not owned—of yearning for the real and imagined parts of Mexico and my identity that I will never know.

Ximena Prieto is a Mexico City born mixed media artist focused on memory and the formation of home through a real or imagined past, creating spaces of unresolved connection and desire.