Bold colors and magical personalities are some of the traits that these creatives are known for. In the midst of adversities with their identities, art has always been the healing rainbow to overcome their difficulties. With a supportive community as their stem, their arts and personalities have been able to blossom. From the fruits of their labors, we’re proud to present these four LGBTQ and LatinX artists who are the Pride of Houston.

Stephanie Gonzalez

Stephanie Gonzalez | Abstract Artist

Website: www.stephaniegonzalez.net 
Instagram: me_gusta_pintar_si
Twitter: megustapintarsi  

Born in Monterrey N.L. Mexico, Stephanie Gonzalez grew up with her grandparents in Reynosa, Mexico, and picked up painting from her grandfather. She began painting at the age of 14 to escape a hostile environment and later started developing new techniques and experimenting with different mediums. After high school, she moved to Houston, where she currently resides. Gonzalez creates mixed media abstract paintings, graphic design, murals, and interior design. She has been known to use a variety of media, such as coffee, wine, aerosol paint, watercolors, acrylics, oil pastels, and china ink. Gonzalez holds a BFA in Interior Design from the Art Institute of Houston and an MFA in Painting from Houston Baptist University. She has received awards from the Glassell School of Art, Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, and Rising Eyes of Texas.

What is your artistic practice and how long have you been doing that?

I am a multidisciplinary artist who works mainly in large-scale mixed media abstract paintings. I explore with found materials and conventional and unconventional media. I have been a full-time artist for seven years now.

What is the narrative of your work and the intentions you’re trying to communicate with your audience?

It is an internal dialogue that is very personal, which leads to my work in abstract expressionism. My intention is to express my inner conflicts and thoughts in hopes to connect with the viewer. Lately, my work has taken a turn where I incorporate geometric forms that comment on the spiritual world.

Stephanie Gonzalez

Being part of the LGBTQ and LatinX community, has this helped or hurt your career in any way?

I have had many hardships simply because of my sexual preference but I use it to my advantage by putting those feelings into my work and releasing it in hopes to connect with someone who has a similar experience. As a member of the LatinX community, I sometimes feel misplaced because I grew up in Mexico and in the US, and in some ways, there is a sense of disconnect.

How has art helped you with your struggles in life?

Painting has always been the only thing that takes me away from the troubles in the world. It is definitely a practice that heals and I know that I can turn to it anytime. Growing up on a battlefield of a home, painting was what helped me escape and create my own worlds. 

Do you have any upcoming exhibitions that you’re excited to share with our viewers? 

I am currently a part of a group show at the Holocaust Museum Houston titled: Withstand: Latinx Art in Times of Conflict. The exhibit explores themes of social justice and human rights through 100 artworks of Houston Latinx artists. This show will run through October. I also have an upcoming exhibit in Pittsburgh, PA, which runs from June 2nd through July 9th, 2021, at BoxHeart Gallery. The exhibit is titled What We Know and is curated by: Cindy Lisica. You can read more details in my news section on my website.


Jessica McMahon

 

Jessica McMahon | Designer

Instagram: @jessitex_ | @thegreenclosetcompany
Website:  www.jessitex.com | www.thegreencloset.com

With over 16 years of industry experience in fashion design, arts, and education, Jessica McMahon's resume includes some of the biggest names and brands in the fashion and apparel industry. As a child, Jessica spent her summers in Manchester, UK, with her family who worked in the textiles industry. During that time, Jessica would sketch, knit and sew clothing for her dolls. It was those creative experiences married with travel and her cherished family traditions that sparked Jessica's desire for a career in fashion, design, and experience creation. Her multidisciplinary background gives her a unique perspective into all industries excelling in team management and development of educational programming at the highest level.

Can you give us a brief description of your art form?

I work with all things textiles and clothing and I have been working with textiles since I was 2 years old. I work heavily with reconstruction and the re-alterations of clothing now. My family was always involved in the textiles business so I was always around it.

Where do you draw your inspirations from and how do you translate that into your work?

It started through my family. On my dad’s side, my great grandfather was a tailor who knew the value of textiles and he believed that everything could be repaired. My mom is from the UK, so every summer I would live in England with my grandparents and extended family. My family is Syrian Jews who ended up in the UK. My great grandfather, grandfather, great uncles, and cousins all started textile businesses, and owned and produced Alligator Raincoats. My grandfather was a huge influence on me. I would spend summers with him in his textile warehouse and he would show and teach me about textiles and clothing from all over the world and the garments he would import from Syria. My grandfather and great uncles were never wasteful and taught me how clothing had value and how to mend and repair. My grandmother taught me how to sew when I was 5 and would show me her alterations that she would make to her clothes and tell me the stories behind the clothing. I loved how textiles and clothing tell stories and allow people to express and identify themselves. This is the main constant source of inspiration that has stayed with me.

Jessica McMahon

What is the narrative of your work and the intentions you’re trying to communicate with your audience?

My work is an experiment in textile waste, beauty, and the restructuring of alterations. The apparel industry over-produces and discards so much inventory that it has nowhere to go except converted to waste. The Alterations Project gives discarded and wasted clothing and textiles new life, purpose, and stories.

How has art helped you with your struggles in life?

My work helps me process my struggles. A few months ago, I had a hysterectomy that led to sepsis. The sepsis led to a life-threatening infection that almost killed me. I needed second emergency surgery to try to save my life. I miraculously survived an infection that most people die from. I woke up with a huge incision down my whole center front. I have had to repair my whole body. During my recovery, all I can think about creatively when I look at clothes is that there is no piece of clothing that cannot be repaired. Everything can tell a new story, get a new life and become beautiful again. I like to work from the center of the garments and grow beauty from them. Every garment, just like every human, deserves the chance at a new story. After what happened to me, I feel as though I understand discarded and damaged textiles in a new and more personal way. Textiles are the most recyclable material we have; yet they are the most disposed of. I am now a part of that change. My reconstructed clothing tells the story of a vibrant future but also educates alterations and sustainability over disuse.

What upcoming projects are you excited about that you would like to share with our readers?

I aI am now the Business Development Manager for a new project called The Green Closet, a large-scale project focusing on vintage, re-worn, and reconstructed clothing. Look out for it!


RobinWood

 

RobinWood: A collaboration story between Robin Baker and Wood Fancher Anthony

 

Robin Baker

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robinbakerart
Instagram: @robinbakerart
Website: www.robinbaker.art

Wood Fancher Anthony

FaceBook: www.facebook.com/WoodFancherAnthony 
Instagram: @woodfanthony
Website: www.woodfancheranthony.com

Robin Baker is a self-taught artist and an acrylic painter for 50 years. His style of black and white with high contrast is due to his ongoing vision problems. One eye sees color, and the other sees shadow and light. Robin took a negative situation and turned it into one of his greatest strengths. Robin is also one of the pioneers of painting the male nude figure within the Houston Art scene. A famous quote from a drunk at the bar: “Robin Baker is the best known unknown artist in Houston.”

Born and raised in Texas, artist Wood Fancher Anthony is deeply inspired by the artistic richness of his mother’s homeland in Zacatecas, Mexico. Much of his work is filled with brilliant colors and energy.  He believes his art must have the ability to tell a story and provide a place for the viewers to get lost within, and in turn to create their own stories. Wood, a self-taught artist, enjoys using a variety of mediums but works primarily in oil.  Wood earned his BBA in Accounting at the University of Saint Thomas in 2002 and studied drawing at the Glassell School of Art in Houston, Texas.

Where do you both draw your inspirations from and how does that translate into your works? 

Robin: My inspirations come from scenes from everyday life. I’ll see someone ordinary doing ordinary things and it will spark my imagination and I will attempt to recreate that with my black and white, high contrast style. Sometimes it works, other times not so much. 

Wood: I draw inspiration from emotions, thoughts, and experiences. I translate these onto canvas through the use of symbolism.

What is the narrative of your work and the intentions you’re trying to communicate with your audience?

Robin:  Every painting tells a story. Sometimes it’s obvious, other times not, but what I want is for people to see their own stories. I’m constantly reminded of a show I attended years ago and the artist asked me what I saw in her work. I replied, “I see my herb garden and it’s lovely.” The artist rather bluntly told me, “NO! It’s the universe in green” and I responded, “That may have been your intention but you asked me what I see and I see my garden.” A year or so later, I ran into that same artist and she confessed that although her feelings were hurt over my garden remark, I made her realize that every person who views art sees something that resonates with them personally, and she thanked me.

Wood: Painting is my way of telling stories.  Each painting I create is its own story, because of this; topics and themes are as varied as the human experience. 

Being part of the LGBTQ and LatinX community, has this helped or hurt your career in any way?

Robin: Being Gay doesn’t define who or what I am, but it does help shape the point of view I try to convey. Back in the early ’70s, one had to be very subtle in depicting anything remotely considered queer. It was a challenge, but fast forward to today, it is accepted almost as a norm now and that makes me happy to have helped pave the way for today’s artists.

Wood: Being a part of both communities has helped tremendously.  My thoughts, experiences, and emotions are rooted in my identity.  My artwork in many ways is a direct result of being a part of both of these communities.

What advice(s) can you give future and upcoming artists in pursuing their creative dreams?

Robin: Standard answer, keep working, practicing, and don’t let anyone tell you that your art has no value. Challenge yourself and be true to who and what you do.

Wood: Don’t give up. don’t stop creating, and continually challenge yourself. It is the only way your work will improve and evolve. Start submitting your work to Open Calls! Hardy and Nance Studios is where I got my start! Genuinely befriend other artists. Eventually, you will have a strong network of like-minded people with a wealth of knowledge, advice, support, and love.

I know you guys have a collaboration show coming up in July called, Plurality Of Contrast. Can you please elaborate more about this exhibition and how it came to fruition? 

Robin: Wood Anthony and I had a show in 2020, each producing individual work and created more than a dozen collaborations. They were so well received that we decided to create an entirely new exhibition featuring only collaborations titled, “Plurality of Contrast”. It shows so many layers, not only a contrast in styles but of emotions and symbolism, seamlessly woven between works.

Wood: Plurality of Contrast is a show that we began working on in late September of 2020.  We had such a positive response from the viewers of our collaboration that we decided to have a show devoted to only collaborations between Robin Baker and I. What people love most about our collaborative work is how beautifully our unique styles come together.  Robin’s work is black and white and my work is all color. His work is already high contrast, but adding my work into the mix creates another layer.  At face value, each painting in the show is its own self-contained story. Because of this, there is a lot of contrast between the themes of each painting. There are a fair amount of paintings in this collection that cross-reference other paintings in a variety of ways with several underlying themes.  We want viewers of this show to experience a variety of emotions and thoughts.  Love, Compassion, Beauty, Friendship, and nostalgia are among the things we want our viewers to experience.

PLURALITY OF CONTRAST
New Works By: Wood Fancher Anthony & Robin Baker
3-9 p.m. | Saturday, July 17th, 2021

Hardy and Nance Studios