Lost on Purpose
An exhibition of new paintings and site responsive installation by Xicana artist Ree Artemisa.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I often wonder how many of my ancestors, were lesbians. Butches. Femmes. Gay. Trans. Queer.
Do they know how much I love them?
I grew up as a gay child with no representation, road map, or safety to fully be myself. I felt and was completely lost to my truth and to the world for a very long time. Despite my hardships, I always felt pulled forward and spiritually protected by an invisible force.
I used to chalk it up to being in survival mode and simply needing to believe in something to get through my harder days. I have since reconsidered.
I know it is those nameless, faceless, queer, gay and trans relatives that carry me through this life, to my art and to freedom. The ones who unglamorously and diligently fought their colonization and against the oppression of others. The ones who fell in love and kept secrets. The truth tellers. The messy and the poised. The brave and the closeted. The ones who lived lonely, hungry lives and the ones who lived wild, full ones. The ones who hated themselves and the ones who adored every inch. The ones who couldn’t go home again but miraculously found home in each other.
The ones who found their church in everything from shared smokes, to wildflowers, to oceans. I know they existed because I do.
As far as I’m concerned, they all personally, lovingly, walked me back home to myself in a world that overwhelmingly tells people like us to “get lost”. To call us “lost” and prone to wander. That attempts to eradicate us and lose sight of us.
I built this for them:
All my ancestors by blood, queer love and similar circumstances.
They deserve to be honored and loved, as we all do in our time on earth. It is an honor to carry on their impact, to acknowledge the fact they existed and to celebrate them. It is an honor to know I will join them someday.
Thank you for giving my family, (by blood, history, circumstance and imagination), and my art, your time.