MÓNICA ORTIZ-MENIER
My Shadow, Mónica Ortiz-Menier, Mixed media, seashells, and acrylic on canvas, 11 x 14 in. 2024.
Image Description: Two painted light-skinned hands, open-palmed, a larger one gently touching the smaller one from underneath. The smaller hand on top holds three little white cowry shells with some sand, and has a little bracelet of three small purple flowers. The background is a warm swirl of pinks, some blues, and lavender shades, with a starfish in the upper left corner. The artist’s initials, OM ‘24, and the little white ASL “I love you” sign under the artist’s initals as part of her signature. The seashells, sand, and bracelet are are tactile, extending from the canvas.
Mónica Ortiz-Menier
My Shadow, 2024
Mixed media, seashells, and acrylic on canvas.
Other Mothering inspired Mónica to create ‘My Shadow’. A nick name that was given to her by her mother. This piece is a tribute to her mother Ofelia Ortiz and her grandmother Elosia. Ofelia’s mother passed away from an illness when she was a tween. Ofelia’s grandmother took her in until she was no longer able to care for her any more. Ofelia’s aunts stepped in and raised her and a few of her siblings. It’s a testimony of a mother’s/sisters love for the loss of their daughter/sister and to ensure a safe space for Ofelia’s grow into adulthood.
Behind the piece: Mónica is Tejano a name commonly used to describe one of Mexican Heritage from the Texas region. She spent her childhood in a small town, Corpus Christi, part of the coastal bend region of Texas. The beach is very much a part of the people’s lives.
She incorporates this part of herself into the art piece. She used the small sea shells to represent her great-grandmother and grandaunts who raised her mother.
A young hand, palm up resting in the palm of the older hand, the child’s mother. In the palm of the young hand are three sea shells. They represent the child’s grandmother and two aunts who raised her after the passing of her mother.
The starfish is from the artist mother’s seashell collection.
Mónica Ortiz-Menier is an Accessibility Consultant and deaf/low-vision artist, who has previously served as a member of the Accessibility Advisory Group for The Heckscher Museum of Art with a focus on individuals who are deaf, deaf-blind, and have low vision. She has plans to curate her first exhibition in July with Radiant Hall Studios in Pittsburgh. She is a former software tester for NASA (Johnson Space Center) in Houston, Texas. She is a Gallaudet University alumna and an advocate for the SSP (Support Service Providers) program, which helps deaf-blind individuals regain their independence with the help of a human guide who communicates in ASL/speech. She is working to bring awareness to this program.