text: Marks, Strokes & Scribbles: A Survey of Drawings is an exhibition featuring drawings culled from different bodies of work produced over the past twenty years. Drawing as a medium is an important part of Meza-DesPlas’ studio practice. While drawings can be produced as quick sketches, preliminary drawings for larger works and analytical notations, Meza-DesPlas’ artworks in this exhibition will reflect ‘drawing’ as the end product – in and of itself. This exhibition is comprised of hand-sewn human hair drawings, human hair drawings cast in resin, vinyl applique drawing installations, on-site drawing installations with conte, and mixed media works encompassing a variety of media such as graphite, thread, and specialty fabric.
  Meza-DesPlas began to sew with her own hair in 2000. Hair is sorted into various lengths, dyed to emulate an array of values and tones, and threaded through small embroidery needles. It is sewn into canvas, mylar and various art papers. Between the years 2001-2004, Meza-DesPlas achieved a three-dimensional appearance by casting her hair drawings into a 3-layer resin. The utilization of hair as a vehicle for art-making is informed by socio-cultural symbolism, feminism, and religious symbolism. In 2018, she began to create hand-sewn human hair drawings with her gray hair. The Huffington Post Arts & Culture section featured her hand-sewn human hair drawings in 2015.
  Meza-DesPlas is known for large drawing installations created on-site. These works created with conte are notable for their loose gestural marks which interweave and vary in density. By 2012 Meza-DesPlas started to experiment with vinyl appliques to create large scale drawing installations. Drawings were created on the vinyl appliques with archival micron pens or liquid graphite. Meza-DesPlas assembled the components, vinyl appliques, together to envisage conceptually on a larger scale. Her drawing installations have been shown at Actuel’Art Lagalerie, Paris, France; CICA Museum, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea; LuXun Academy of Fine Arts, Art Gallery, Shenyang, China; and ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL.
  In Meza-DesPlas’ hands, drawing, as a traditional medium, has been expounded upon to arrive at non-traditional methods for mark-making. Her studio experimentations yield numerous avenues for what a drawing can be; thereby, the definition of drawing is smudged, erased and redrawn.
  Marks, Strokes, Scribbles: A Survey of Drawings continues at Fort Lewis College Art Gallery in Durango, CO until October 10, 2019. Gallery hours are Monday – Thursday, 10:00am – 4:00pm.
  Pictured below are images of the wall drawing installation at Fort Lewis College Art Gallery. Normative discontent is a term coined in 1980s about a woman’s dissatisfaction with her body image. The last series I worked on revolved around Audre Lorde’s The Uses of Anger. I showed these works in Brooklyn in February. These artworks explore the concept of anger as a tool for change by juxtaposing found imagery from social media, art history and mass media. My interest was in how social movements, Black Lives Matter, Women’s Marches, Times Up and #MeToo harness anger in order to forefront an array of gender-based burdens. The current artworks including this wall drawing are an extension of the artworks about ‘anger as a tool for change’ They are about ‘agency’ and are inspired by the lyrics of Beyonce’s song Formation (released in 2016). I am researching images of female politicians who are captured in the throes of anger; in particular, I am looking for commonalities in terms of physical gestures and facial expressions. In addition, I am cross-referencing the contemporary social media images with art historical images of women & agency. My interest lies in re-contextualizing the phrase “Ok ladies, now let’s get in formation” into a call for action, a rallying cry, a call to mobilize — a contemporary call for political activism. I was inspired by Rebecca Traister’s book “Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger”, 2018 and “Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger” by Soraya Chemaly, 2018. As a little girl, one is often told, do not yell or do not be angry — it makes you look ugly. The distortion of the face in the throes of anger juxtaposed with the silenced face is of particular interest here.
  Normative Discontent (left side), 9′ x 6′, 2019, wall drawing installation at Fort Lewis College Art Gallery, conte with specialty fabric on wall
  Detail of Normative Discontent (left side), 9′ x 6′, 2019, wall drawing installation at Fort Lewis College Art Gallery, conte with specialty fabric on wall
  Normative Discontent (right side), 9′ x 6′, 2019, wall drawing installation at Fort Lewis College Art Gallery, conte with specialty fabric on wall
  Detail of Normative Discontent (right side), 9′ x 6′, 2019, wall drawing installation at Fort Lewis College Art Gallery, conte with specialty fabric on wall
  Installation view of Marks Strokes, Scribbles: A Survey of Drawings at Fort Lewis College Art Gallery
  Author rosemarymezadesplasPosted on September 23, 2019 Categories activism, art, Contemporary Art, contemporaryart, curators, Drawing, Exhibitions, Feminism, Hispanic Heritage Month, Latina, metoo, Uncategorized, WomenTags activism, Contemporary Art, Contemporary Drawing, Drawing, Exhibitions, Feminism, Figurative Art, Gender Issues, Installation, Latina, Politics, resist, Wall Drawing, Women StudiesLeave a comment on Marks, Strokes, Scribbles: A Survey of Drawings at Fort Lewis College Art Gallery
  Spoken Word Performance at Amos Eno Gallery
  Rosemary Meza-DesPlas, also a spoken word performer, will present her piece titled Intervals of Anger at the opening reception on February 1st. She will perform a poem every fifteen minutes in conjunction with an artwork in the exhibition.
  Author rosemarymezadesplasPosted on February 6, 2019 February 6, 2019 Categories Brooklyn Art, Bushwick Brooklyn, Contemporary Art, Contemporary Poetry, Feminism, Latina, metoo, Poetry, Uncategorized, WomenTags Feminism, Gender Issues, Latina, latinapoet, performance, Politics, spokenword, Women StudiesLeave a comment on Spoken Word Performance at Amos Eno Gallery
  Solo Exhibit at Amos Eno Gallery
  Amos Eno Gallery is pleased to present Jane Anger, an exhibition of new works by Rosemary Meza-DesPlas. Jane Anger features hand-sewn human hair drawings, watercolors and onsite installations. The title refers to a 16th century pamphlet published in England titled Jane Anger, Her Protection for Women. The exhibition runs until February 24th at the gallery’s location at 56 Bogart Street in Brooklyn, NY.
  “Every woman has a well-stocked arsenal of anger potentially useful against those oppressions, personal and institutional, which brought that anger into being.” –Audre Lourde
  Meza-DesPlas explores the concept of anger as a tool for change by juxtaposing found imagery from social media, art history and mass media. She is interested in how the social movements, Women’s Marches and #MeToo, harnessed anger in order to forefront an array of gender-based burdens.
  This exhibition includes Meza-DesPlas’ most recent drawings which incorporate her gray hair. She has been sewing with her own hair since 2000. Her hair is hand-sewn into a variety of grounds with small embroidery needles. Meza-DesPlas’ decision to collect, sort and utilize hair as a vehicle for art-making is informed by socio-cultural symbolism, feminism and body issues, and religious symbolism.
  Note on Floor Installation:
  These Boots Are Gonna Walk All Over You, 2018
  Gallery visitors are encouraged to walk on the vinyl floor applique. This floor piece, comprised of abstract portraits, depicts various men accused of sexual harassment, assault, and/or misconduct. To walk all over someone means –
  Treat them with contempt
  To treat someone badly
  To disrespect
  To dominate a person
  To make someone feel inferior
  While a small gesture, walking over these perpetrators can provide a sense of empowerment. As you walk across the floor applique, contemplate your personal experiences with sexual harassment, assault, and/or misconduct.
  Conversations * Self-reflection * Accountability * Social Transformation
  Author rosemarymezadesplasPosted on February 6, 2019 February 7, 2019 Categories Brooklyn Art, Bushwick Brooklyn, Contemporary Art, Drawing, Exhibitions, Feminism, Gray hair, Hair Art, Latina, metoo, Sewing, Watercolor, WomenTags Contemporary Art, Contemporary Drawing, Drawing, Exhibitions, Feminism, Figurative Art, Gender Issues, Hair, Hair Art, Installation, Latina, Sewing, Watercolor, Women StudiesLeave a comment on Solo Exhibit at Amos Eno Gallery