Identity: 4 Voices

IDENTITY:
4 VOICES
3/14 – 7/3/2020
CRAFT IN AMERICA CENTER

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Craft in America Center is pleased to present an exhibition
by four artists who explore issues of gender, race, culture,
and place, offering true expressions of their experience in this
world. Cristina Córdova, Wendy Maruyama, Cara Romero,
and Diego Romero draw upon their heritages and identities
as makers to translate their experiences into fine art. All four
artists were featured in Craft in America’s IDENTITY episode of
our PBS Documentary Series.

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WENDY MARUYAMA
Wendy Maruyama, furniture maker and educator, delves
into matters of ethnicity, gender, and world issues in her
studio in San Diego, CA. Born an American of Japanese
heritage, Maruyama satisfied her artistic passions by
becoming an important furniture maker in a field
dominated by men and in the process, overcame
challenges related to her deafness and disability.
Maruyama is able to translate her complex identity
into beautiful yet challenging work.

Wendy Maruyama
Sonje, 2014
Polychromed wood, string
Wendy Maruyama
The Bell Shrine, 2015
Claro walnut, holly, ink, bronze
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“After completing the E.O. 9066 and
Wildlife projects, very heavy topics that
required a good deal of research, I was
ready to make something simple, pretty
and light. 2019 was the Bauhaus’
centennial celebration. I chose to look at
Anni Albers’ work because of her great
colors and patterns she incorporated
into her textile works. She is also one of
few women who are well known from
the patriarchal and chauvinistic Bauhaus
group.” -Maruyama
Left to right:
Wendy Maruyama
Tickled Pink, 2019
Polychromed wood
Wendy Maruyama
Autumnal Equinox, 2019
Polychromed wood
Wendy Maruyama
Yellow Window, 2019
Polychromed wood
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Wendy Maruyama
Untitled, 2019
Polychromed wood
“I adapted the technique that I use for
making tambour doors (also known as
‘roll-top’ doors, made up of uniform sticks
glued onto canvas to create a flexible
surface). I wanted to somehow replicate
a weaving grid using strips of wood and
painting each section and varying the
depths of these strips to give some texture
and pattern to the surface.” -Maruyama
“I was interested in
experimenting with new colors
with these pieces. The trio of
‘Untitled’s were soft candy
colors I
usually never use but wanted to
try. They sort of reminded me of
three seasons: Winter, Spring
and Fall. I guess I skipped over
Summer. The large brown one
was inspired by my trip to
Africa and I wanted to try a
different palette.” -Maruyama
Wendy Maruyama
Homage to Anni II, 2019
Polychromed wood
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CRISTINA CÓRDOVA
Cristina Córdova is a sculptor who is originally from
Puerto Rico and now lives and works at Penland,
NC. Her beautiful figurative clay work is rooted in
renaissance sculptural traditions and ceramic history.
Each piece represents our shared humanity while
confronting contemporary issues of gender, race, beauty,
and power.

Cristina Córdova
Cabeza V, 2018
Ceramic, framed photography
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CARA ROMERO
Cara Romero, a contemporary photographer and
member of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of the
Chemehuevi Reservation (a branch of the Southern
Paiute) of the Mojave Desert, CA is a passionate
spokesperson for indigenous cultural and environmental
issues. Her complex and nuanced images combine
traditional iconography with a contemporary
perspective, bringing past, present, and future into
consideration. The artist orchestrates a balancing act in
her photography by rewriting stories of Indian identity,
battling cultural misappropriation, and confronting
stereotypes–particularly of Native women–all the while
preserving tradition and maintaining cultural sensitivity.

Cara Romero
17 Mile Road, 2019
Archival pigment prints,
Legacy platine
Cara Romero
Evolvers, 2019
Archival pigment prints,
Legacy platine
Cara Romero
Spirits of Siwavaats, 2019
Archival pigment prints,
Legacy platine
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DIEGO ROMERO
Diego Romero is a potter living and working in Santa Fe,
NM and a member of the Cochiti Pueblo tribe. He makes
art that transcends his Native American heritage by
combining traditional materials, techniques, and forms of
ancient Mimbres, Anasazi, and Greek pottery with comic
book inspired imagery to talk about contemporary issues.
Romero is a self-proclaimed “chronologist on the absurdity
of human nature,” whose comic narratives often venture
into taboo areas of politics, environment, racism,
alcoholism, love, life, and loss.

Diego Romero
Coyote, 2019
Glazed earthenware
Diego Romero
Cochiti Maiden, 2019
Glazed earthenware
Diego Romero
Untitled, C. 2018
Glazed earthenware
Collection of Charles Rozanski
Diego Romero
Chongo Brothers in Broke Car
Landscape, c. 2018
Glazed earthenware
Collection of Charles Rozanski
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This exhibiton took place at the
Craft in America Center in Los Angeles
from March 14 - July 3, 2020.
Support was provided by the Los
Angeles County Arts Commission and
the National Endowment for the Arts.

CRAFT IN AMERICA is a Los Angeles-based non-profit
with a mission to promote and advance original craft
through educational programs and resources in all
media–accessible to all via a PBS documentary series
that has aired since 2007, an archival website, as well
as in-person at the Craft in America Center (the Center)
in Los Angeles. We are dedicated to the exploration
and celebration of craft, the work of the hand, and
craft’s impact on our nation’s evolving cultural heritage
and economy.
The Center is a micro-museum, library, and
programmatic space where visitors engage directly with
art, artists, and ideas. We give voice to traditional and
contemporary craft, ranging from functional to purely
conceptual, through personal engagement. We
organize exhibitions, artist talks, scholarly lectures, a
reading group, book signings, hands-on workshops,
demonstrations, student field trips, concerts, and
publications.