The show Seedling features recent paintings and ceramic sculptural art objects. The artwork evokes organic cycles through the lens of speculative mythologies. The artist interprets impressions and emotions of death and loss through vibrant pieces, structuring a visual belief system that longs for regeneration and well-being. The work is grounded in the ongoing devastation of the pandemic and the artist’s recent experiences of personal loss. “Seedling” aims to show the pain, beauty, and fragility of being present right now.

CECILIA BEAVEN is a visual artist from Mexico City-based in Chicago. Cecilia holds an MFA in Studio from SAIC which she coursed as a Fulbright scholar and a BFA with honors from ENPEG La Esmeralda (Mexico City). Cecilia’s multidisciplinary artwork— which includes murals, painting, drawing, animation, comics, and sculpture—has been shown in solo shows in Mexico City, Houston, and Chicago, and in group exhibitions in Mexico, the US, Colombia, Sweden, Italy, and Japan. She has painted murals in several cities such as Hiketa, Paris, Houston, Chicago, Mexico City, Oaxaca, Pachuca, Tepoztlan, and Tijuana, where she was commissioned to paint a segment of the border wall between Mexico and the US. Cecilia develops speculative mythology with unique visual narratives questioning who gets to tell stories and define culture. The artist affirms her creative agency by modifying existing tales and mythology and seamlessly adding fiction and personal anecdotes. Through this analytical and ludic experimentation, Cecilia brings a unique perspective on Mexican identity that goes beyond folklore and mainstream ideas of Mexico. Cecilia has been awarded distinctions such as the Fulbright Scholarship, the Leroy Neiman Foundation Fellowship at Ox-Bow School of Art, and the Radicle Studio Residency at Hyde Park Art Center. 

Image: Inflorescence, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 72 x 1.5 in., (1524 x 1828.8 x 38.1 mm.)