Art

Item Description

This deeply personal and haunting beautiful work by reknowned photographer and Guggenheim Fellow (1991), Cecilia Portal, is part of a photographic series of floral arrangements created for the altar of her daughter.

Cecilia's journey began with the departure from middle-class Havana, Cuba in 1959 to an alien existence in North Carolina. Her father then moved the family to Mexico City and she eventually grew up to become a nurse and freelance photographer. She intertwined the two professions that complemented each other in unexpected ways.

She was energized by the Mexico's visual vibrancy and compelling subjects. Her social consciousness  evolved through nursing and the observation of politics in Mexico and Cuba. This was expressed through the visual examinations of Mexican attitudes toward women and the abusive conditions in a Mexican psychiatric institution. She apprenticed with brilliant photographers Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Walter Reuter and Julio Pilego. 

She emigrated to Boston, MA to study at the New England School of Photography and found her new place of residence to be a visual upheaval which transformed her work to construct more conceptual and abstract images. Using her background in medical and dental photography, she started to explore the human body in macro views which allude to landscapes. She continued to find her voice as an artist and when chemical exposure proved caustic to her health, she embraced digital photography in 1994.

Along with being an accomplished photographer  and grant recipient with works in public and private collections around the world, Cecilia Portal is also a long-time KUNM producer. She is part of the Raices Collective (the group that hosts Raices, Espejos de Aztlan, and Salsa Sabrosa) and just returning after a five year hiatus to concentrate on her photography.

This framed/matted collectors item giclee print is second of an edition of 30 and is signed and dated '05 below the print inside the mat.

Framed Dimensions: 22.25" x 32.25" x 1.25"  Image: 12" x 18"

Item Special Note

Terms For Pickup or Delivery of Items:

• The winner of each auction lot will receive an e-mail following the completion of the auction on November 21, 2013.
• Winning bidders are asked to respond to this e-mail and must do so by 12 p.m. MDT, November 22, to confirm their winning bid on the item(s) in the auction lot.
• The winners of each auction have the option of picking up their item(s) at designated pickup locations in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Details on these pickup locations will be communicated to winning bidders.
• Winning bidders also have the option of having their item(s) shipped to them at additional cost. Gift certificates can be mailed for a flat shipping and handling fee of $5. Any other item type can be shipped to the winning bidder at actual shipping cost, including insurance, for that particular item.