A Visual Artist Based in New Mexico
Monika Guerra (she/they) is a Mexican-American contemporary artist born in Southern California and raised in Southern New Mexico. Guerra's studio practice explores and creates different planes of existence through painting, photography and print - where she constantly questions her position in this reality and her state of the human experience. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts and Certificate in Business & Entrepreneurship from the Institute of American Indian Arts in 2022.
Some of her recent achievements include working as an Artistic Development & Production Intern at Meow Wolf and exhibiting at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe, NM.
Statement
Captivated by personal dreamscapes, my work commonly emotes a sense of comfort, yet curiosity - questioning the fragility of the human experience. Through various styles and mediums, I compose subjects and settings that create different planes of existence, such as wavering states of emotion, journey, and being.
One of the most quiet, yet prominent themes of my work touches upon intergenerational trauma. I look back on unique experiences and views of unresolved traumas that are passed down from our families, recognizing the root of what they may have went through, and finding ways to break the cycles - day by day. The journey continues by gaining self-awareness, recognizing the (toxic) cycles, and continuing the non-linear path to a higher sense of self and healing. Although its usually disturbing going through these experiences, its quite beautiful at the same time once you've come out the other side. I believe it's all part of the human experience.
Collectively inspired/influenced by almost every art movement and style of every medium that has had the opportunity to exist under the sun, I continuously find ways to communicate my ideas that can contribute to the human experience in various ways - perhaps allowing them (and myself) to feel and think much deeper about our lives and the reality we are living.