Linda Vallejo
ArtScene Magazine
Vol. 11, No. 2
By Dr. Edith A. Tonelli, former director of UCLA’s Wight Art Gallery and curator of Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation (CARA)
October 1991
Excerpt:
“The title of Linda Vallejo’s exhibition of new paintings and drawings is Simbolo y Fuerza, translated to English literally as Symbol and Power. It did not take me long to realize that although this is an artist whose ties are on a very different heritage and community than mine, she is addressing very common human problems. I was soon to realize that the artist sees her work this way as well, informed by her Native American heritage and experiences, but with hope that it reverberates for anyone who has suffered in life and persevered. My own English title for this show would differ slightly from hers: Icons of Strength.
The primary element that distinguishes her work is the intertwining (sometimes literally, as in Mujer con Hojas) of natural and human forms. Vallejo believes that this kind of human strength is the result of a connection with nature and an internalizing of natural power. Her experience with indigenous people and her understanding of a personal relationship to the land and natural forms has healed her time and again, and has the potential, she believes, to be a teacher to anybody.”
Full article