Not So Far Away,

(No tan lejos)

Art and Culture Center/Hollywood

August 29 - October 25, 2020

Curated by Meaghan Kent

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Not So Far Away - No Tan Lejos, 2020 remarks on the longstanding historical divisions between Cuba and the United States and is relevant to larger conversations about the shared experiences linked to the global dispersal of refugees and migrations, of erecting boundaries and border crossings, of voyaging, and the fault-lines and states of emergency – in a deeply divided world. This project investigates and respects both the complexities and the resilience of the immigrant experience. 

The work of Rosa Naday Garmendia is rooted in social issues and encourages reflection, interaction, and engagement. Inspired by works whose origins are the result of documentary work initiated in 2014, the exhibition reflects upon the displacement from culture, home, and family, human communication, belief systems, and notions of history. Her effort to develop an intercultural dialogue encompasses a range of themes including identity, migration, and colonialism. This project is unique to her oeuvre as it discusses the intersectionality of her own identity as an immigrant from Cuba, a woman, and an artist living in the United States while maintaining family and cultural ties. 

This solo exhibition, comprised of two large-scale mural paintings, documentary work, photography, and objects, contextualizes the narratives and experiences of individual immigrants, the histories of separation, transplantation of memories, and cultural practices from one’s own home country. History is a multi-disciplinary approach of public and personal experiences created to open new ways of understanding. The artist questions: What is the social and political impact of multiculturalism within these parameters? How are identities, language, self-determination, borders, and beliefs shifted by the flow and movement of people?  ​

Elements of the exhibition: 

1-Not So Far Away, (No tan Lejos) tile design  

2019-20 

Tile digital design printed on vinyl 

12 H x 12 W inches 

2-Coordinates, (Coordenadas)  

2020 

Large-scale site-specific Mural, house, and spray paint, vinyl letters 

9.3 H x 14.6 W feet 

3-Transparencies and composites, an intercultural dialogue, ode to Sábanas Blancas en los Balcones #EusebiolealSpengler 2019-2020  

7 digital prints on cold press paper  

50 H x 32 W inches each 

These works on paper are part of a series that includes 7 printed digital images that actively chronicle, and registers lived experiences which represent over 50 years of weaving family ties despite the longstanding historical divisions between Cuba and the United States, through economic blockade, travel restrictions, intimidation, and harassment.

Repurposing, collaging and chronicling legal documents, i.e. passports, visas, entry permits, archival family photos and family gifts used in combination, layered transparencies visually tell this story of trauma and identity.

4-Not so far Away, (No tan Lejos)  

Double 9 domino game, 54 pieces, wood, digital photograph, resin 

Custom domino table, Falconboard® Kraft ½”, BOARDers® finishing system, Clear Acrylic top 

40” x 40” x 30” 

4 stools, 16’(W) x 16” (D) x 24"(H)  

FALCONBOARD® 1/2” 

5-Activism Mural, Voices for change  

Site-specific Mural, mixed media 

9.3 H x 5.6 W  

The exhibition is supported by a grant from the Maurer Family Foundation.