Baptism​

Size: ​23 cm X 15 cm

Medium: ​Block Print

Date of Completion:​ September, 2017

A baptism is usually associated with renewal, rebirth, and forgiveness. My piece, titled​ Baptism​, is centered around
my perception of the erasure of my culture's history and the romanticization of the perpetrators. I used the
contrasting styles of pre-Columbian art and Alphonse Mucha's work to tell the narrative of a baptism in which a
people emerged cleansed by colonialism of the great history that preceded them.

Las Trenzas​

Size: ​ 20cm X 15cm

Medium: ​Drypoint

Date of Completion: ​September, 2017

​Las Trenzas ​is a piece created to enrapture the sentimentality of broken traditions and forgotten history. Created out
of the sweet ignorance of my own history and dismay for future generations ​Las Trenzas​ is a piece focused on the
effects of the erasure of history by colonialism.

Enlightenment ​

Size: ​ 152.4cm X 122cm

Medium: ​Oil on canvas

Date of Completion: ​November, 2017

Enlightenment​ is a self-portrait deeply inspired by Caravaggio's Medusa. Inspired in part through my own
revelations on my cultural identity and beliefs, ​Enlightenment​ is meant to illustrate the uncertainty in discovery and
acceptance.
 Title:Bacchus

Size: ​30.5 cm by 40.5 cm

Medium: ​Colored pencils and acrylic on illustration board

Date: ​November 2017

Bacchus is a piece heavily inspired by Caravaggio's Bacchus. My own Bacchus is meant to represent indulgence In
this piece I am looking to depict the unchanging way in which overindulgence and overconsumption are glamorized
and paraded through everyday media. As it relates to identity Bacchus represents the positive stimulation indulgence
can have on one's identity.

Title:Head of Bacchus

Size: ​30.5 cm by 40.5 cm

Medium: ​Colored pencils and acrylic on illustration board

Date: ​November 2017

This illustration was inspired by Marinari's ​Salome with the Head of the Baptist ​and Caravaggio's ​Bacchus. ​A
continuation of Bacchus this piece focuses on the negative aspects of overconsumption and indulgence as it relates
to identity. The work specifically focuses on the ignorance and loss of self that come with the culture of
overconsumption.

La Cadena ​

Size: ​60.96 cm X 91.44 cm

Medium: ​Digital collage

Date of Completion: ​March 2018

La Cadena​ is a digital collage done in Adobe Photoshop inspired by the portraiture work of both Kehinde Wiley and
Frida Kahlo. ​La Cadena o​ r the chain is mean to visually convey the turmoil, longing, and optimism experienced by
many in the journey to reconnect with one's roots and history.
 Geoda

​Size: ​ 49.53cm X 63.5

Medium: ​watercolor and acrylic on watercolor paper

Date of Completion: ​April, 2018

Geoda o​ r geode in English was heavily inspired by the beautifully organic sharp formations of crystals and the
imposing Reims Cathedrals in France. This building is meant to serve as plant conservatory and was ultimately
inspired by my will to re-envision the Mitchell Park Domes. This building with its religious presence is meant to
praise and conserve what is often taken for granted.

​La Tela de Mi

Size:​ 91.4 X 60.9 cm panels

Medium: ​multi-medium collage

Date of Completion: ​April, 2018

La Tela de Mi​ is a triptych heavily inspired by Coles Phillips' fade-away girls and Kehinde Wiley's use of pattern.
Throughout these panels pattern is used as means to illustrate my relationship with myself, my environment, and my
hopes on impacting my environment. La Tela de Mi is my attempt to capture how enveloped and interwoven I am to
my surroundings, circumstances and how hey have shaped me and will continue to impact me.
 Title: Medusa

Size:​ 30.5 cm by 40.5 cm

Medium: ​Colored pencils and paper on illustration board

Date: ​September 2018

Medusa i​ s an illustration and collage heavily inspired by Caravaggio's own Medusa and the colorful and intricate
patterns in Wiley's Portrait of John and George Soane. The work is meant to illustrate the anguish and possible
despair that is stirred within me in my journey to create myself. The newspaper represents the things given to me
while the snakes represent what I have created myself.

Title:Mariposa

Size: 25.5m by 40.6 cm

Medium: linoleum print

Date: October 2018

Mariposa ​or Butterfly, is a linoleum print inspired by Irving Herrera's own print portraits and Kehinde Wiley's
compositions and vibrant color schemes. ​Mariposa ​is meant to represent resilience and anticipation towards the
future. In this work I portray myself in the state of realization I would like to be in just as a butterfly reaches its final
state.
 Title: Lamentation

Size: ​30.5 cm by 40.5 cm

Medium: ​Acrylics on canvas

Date: ​November 2018

Lamentation​ is a self portrait inspired in part Kehinde Wiley's own Lamentation and in another part by Francisco de
Zurbaran's Agnus Dei. ​Lamentation u​ ses the connotation that accompanies lambs to convey a sense of fleeting
innocence and youth. The hand with rein in ​Lamentation​ then is able to symbolize either restraint and oppression or
guidance. ​Lamentation​ was created as the most legible portrait of my grief in moving from one stage of my life on
to the next, unsure of what is next.

la Llorona

Size:​ 25.5 cm by 15.25cm

Medium: ​Polymer clay, acrylic paint, human hair

Date: ​November 2018

La llorona​ is a polymer sculpture inspired in part by Frida Kahlo's self portraits. The work is plays on the old
Mexican folklore by the same title where a woman drowned her children and spent the rest of her life natural and
after mourning and searching for them. In this work I am in a similar matter grieving over the loss of my own
childhood.

Iluminación

Size: ​25.5 cm by 15.25cm

Medium: ​Polymer clay, acrylic paint, human hair

Date: ​November 2018

Iluminación​ or illumination is the second sculpture in a series focused around the future. Taking inspiration from
Frida Kahlo's portraiture and symbolism ​iluminación u​ ses the connotations associated with halos, gold, and
sculptures in general to depict a dream like state of elevation and zeal.
 ​ ​Artist Statement
My name is Berenice Almaraz and I
am currently a senior at Ronald
Reagan High School. I believe all
human beings are born with the
instinct to configure, design, frame
and distort the world surrounding
them. From the moment we are born
we contort the world around us to fit
in ourselves. My journey through art
began from the time I could grasp the
pencil. I always had the need to
create the thoughts in my head on
paper for others to see. Although I
did not expect it, my need to create
would grow and I am now exploring
different ways to feed that need.