In the main gallery space at Artpace in downtown San Antonio, two clotheslines stretch between two rusted poles. Patterned dresses held up by wooden clothespins hang from the lines as if they were put out to dry in the sun.
“All of these dresses carry memories, or moments that I’ve lived with them and times that I’ve worn them,” said local artist Angela Guerra Walley.
Growing up, Guerra Walley watched her mother and grandmother make clothing and quilts for her family from fabric around her home. That memory is what inspired her first exhibition, We Are Quilted Together, now on view at Artpace.
The exhibition conveys comfort and femininity while still capturing the struggles she faced growing up. Guerra Walley said her art deals with gender identity and gender roles as well as body dysmorphia, though these heavy topics may be hidden in the fabric of her pieces.
“[These pieces are] questioning identity and women’s roles to give comfort,” said Guerra Walley. “These blankets, these quilts and these dresses are symbols of what womanhood is and the expectation of women to provide comfort for others.”
Guerra Walley said she found comfort and therapy in her art by being able to make objects which were a symbol of beauty but had nothing to do with her self-image.
“Dealing with body dysmorphia, with my body changing, I didn’t want to worry about the object not fitting me,” she said. “I was really just interested in making a conceptual dress, it didn’t matter if it fit my body. That was freeing because I liked the idea of making these objects that look like dresses but it had nothing to do with whether it was going to fit on my form.”
Guerra Walley began working on her exhibition about a year ago after receiving an Individual Artist Grant from the City of San Antonio. Her initial idea was to create a series of dresses, but when she saw the space at Artpace, she said she was inspired to hang her pieces on a clothesline — the same clothesline her grandmother used throughout Guerra Walley’s childhood.
Before pursuing her career as an artist Guerra Walley worked as a filmmaker and musician.
“Artpace is kind of a full circle moment for me because they were one of the first organizations to hire my husband and I to produce a video about their organization,” she said.
After years of pursuing a career in filmmaking, Guerra Walley found herself wanting to do more than document creative spaces.
“Art has been an outlet and fascination of mine for as long as I can remember. My impulse to create has always crossed different media, but it’s taken until this point in my career to find my voice as a visual artist,” she said.
Guerra Walley plans to continue working on films and music along with her new visual art pursuits. Her latest film is part of the Still Brewing exhibition at the San Antonio Museum of Art.
We Are Quilted Together will be on view through Sept. 3, at Artpace, located at 445 N. Main Ave. in downtown San Antonio. Admission to Artpace is free.
