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Creative Process

Silent Prey

By Melva Medina

When the soul of a human being is violated, the mind goes into a defensive mode and creates a shield that “protects” it, hiding itself in silence. What follows is a confinement that keeps the spirit imprisoned, confused and immersed in internal conflict and pain.

There are magic encounters between people, some intense and passionate, some harmonious and surrounded by love, but there are also savage encounters filled with sadism and hatred.

The world has polarized the human race. One side is rage, intolerance and physical aggression which foments sensationalism and promotes morbidity and yellow journalism. On the other side is spectacle, turning us into spectators and consumers of painful stories as part of a daily entertainment, closing our eyes to the morality and value of human rights.

The frequency of disaster and the primitive behavior of human beings justifies inhuman behaviors as part of the essence that characterizes our species.

The subtle encounter of caress and sexuality gets transformed into abuse when something that should be love, becomes primal, savage aggression to satisfy instinct. These acts violate defenseless human beings, disregarding the consequences of actions.

Our time is of fortunate change. The world, despite the presence of an evident chaos and a world humanitarian crisis, is opening its eyes and awakening. A large and sympathetic group of people around the world is starting to unify and radicalize stances that in a short time will lead to the awakening of consciousness. This is the work that the artist should fulfill. Our commitment is to use creative tools to denounce events, but also to propose alternatives offering relief and a solution to conflict. Art is the mechanism that crystallizes human acts. Art accompanies us and will continue distinguishing us form the rest of the species, saving the real essence of being that calls together our existence.

This is a project we have been working on for a little over a year, having its origin in some of the drawings of Aura Meztli, from which I as a sculptor interpret and transform them in new ways. Aura Meztli’s work gives us a breath of fresh air with fashion design dedicated to child sexual abuse victims. She gives us with these creations a tool for empowerment and strength helping us to keep moving forward with dignity while feeling safe, free, and attractive.

In this project, as with all the ones we do in Nahualli casa de los artistas, the family has been the foundation that inspires its realization. The support of Abel Vázquez and Alma Citlalli, have been essential to its fulfillment, as well as photographer Carlos Arjona.

Creative Processes

The erotic and feminine symbolism of Melva Medina

By Vanessa Alejandro / Translation Miguel Sciaudone

Melva welcomes you with a big smile and background music when you open the door of her historic nineteenth century house-gallery. She likes to emphasize that they are not a “conventional gallery and that you should feel at home”. It is precisely that sensation I perceive while walking through the beautiful spaces full of art, life, stories and color around me.

Immersed in a surreal and dreamlike world, the work of Melva – artist, woman,  mother, and wife – harmoniously reflects her mexica roots and her great passion for erotic and feminine symbolism.

Her figurative and organic work brings us closer to Mother Earth and seduces us with the strength of a spiritual woman who is capable of doing anything. The sculptures, for example, take on a feminine strength and blend with the beauty of an animal that is about to lead us to some part of the Nahualli universe.

The social commentary and visual impact on the spectators are a constant in the work of the artist, thanks to her versatile handling of sculptural and pictorial techniques. Her works have traveled the world and some have found a place in foreign homes to tell their stories. I certainly also want one of them in mine.