Lotería is an iconic part of Mexican culture. It is a game which involves 54 illustrated cards that is played similarly to bingo. I selected six images from this deck to reimagine them as textiles. Both of my grandmothers are fiber artists who’ve created pieces that defined my childhood, so pursuing this project is my way of reconnecting with my culture and my family, and sharing that with others by recalling a fun game that brings people together. My art has been heavily focused on textile techniques, so I decided to push this further and hand embroider six of these images. These pieces draw upon both the original imagery and that of the Vienna Secession and Art Nouveau movements from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Textile art has a history in art of being dismissed as “women’s work” and beneath other forms of fine art. However, I’ve never perceived it as anything but a beautiful and meaningful way of decorating a space, thanks to my appreciation for my grandmothers’ crafts. I chose feminine cards to add an extra dimension of meaning to my work, by tying the language seen in the art to the generations of women that helped to inspire my work.