Artspeak Radio with Kiki Serna and Cesar Lopez

Artspeak Radio, Wednesday, 9am – 10am CST, 90.1fm KKFI Kansas City Community Radio, streaming live audio www.kkfi.org

Producer/host Maria Vasquez Boyd welcomes artists Kiki Serna and Cesar Lopez.

F A N T A S M A S :
KIKI SERNA
611 N 6TH ST . KANSAS CI TY, KS
FEBRUARY 1ST – MARCH 31ST, 2024

United Colors is excited to present a solo exhibition by Kiki Serna.

United Colors is excited to present a solo exhibition by Kiki Serna.
When you migrate, you leave yourself behind. A copy of yourself, a “fantasma,” is left in
your homeland. I believe that part of the immigrant experience is recovering fractured
pieces of yourself – not only are we retrieving, but we’re also reclaiming, mending, and
patching together pieces of our former and future selves. The trauma and pain that is
assembled and attached to us during migration splits us into many pieces. We’re left to
search, find, and gather fragments of ourselves for the rest of our lives – this is the focus of my studio practice.

KIKI SERNA-As a DACA recipient, daughter of undocumented parents, and a practicing artist, I research the themes inside the immigrant experience. I’m attracted to the idea of the ghost as a metaphor for the complexities and segments found therein. The ghosts of our younger selves, our past homes, memories, those who live invisibly in America, and those we have lost during our passage to the American Dream. Through this, I focus on
fragmented memories, disillusionment, absence, linguistics through text, and familial
mementos. Anonymity is normalized in the undocumented diaspora – there’s a hazy veil in memories, and a wish to respect and immortalize the life left behind. I treat my drawings, videos, and collages with these perspectives. Family love letters faxed across the border, photographs, home videos, and other autobiographical items are re-used and on display within my work. Often, in immigrant communities, we’re taught to keep everything ephemera – to collect and to archive.

Aquetzali (Kiki) Serna is a Mexican visual artist living and working in Kansas City, Missouri. She received her Bachelor of Fine Art in sculpture from The Kansas City Art Institute. Most recently, Kiki has exhibited at MDW Fair at Mana Contemporary, Chicago, IL; H&R Artspace, Kansas City, MO; Galeria Venenoise, Mexico City, MX; and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO. Kiki was also a recipient of a two-term residency at Charlotte Street’s Studio Residency program from 2018-2020. In addition, Kiki’s work is included in local private collections, including that of The Kansas City Museum.
www.kikiserna.com

@unitedcolors.gallery
www.unitedcolors.gallery
Open hours 12-3PM Every Sat and Sun
(or by appointment)

United Colors (formerly Curiouser KC) is a contemporary art gallery in Kansas City. The program presents a diversity of voices and mediums, the exhibition schedule resembles that of a kunsthalle. Allowing for longer shows and make opportunity for programing to engage the public.
[email protected]
611 N 6th St. Kansas City, Kansas

CESAR LOPEZ Cesar E. Lopez Mejia
(B. Coatepeque, Guatemala; Kansas City – based)
I emigrated to the United States at a young age, due to the DACA program am able to work and stay in the US. In the sculptures, I keep the memory of the motherland alive. Various materials, places and structures inform the sculpture that I design, fabricate and construct. The work is draws from a deep well to create surrogates for an internal state.
He received his Bachelor of Fine Art from the Kansas City Art Institute. He has exhibited at Gallery Bogart, Kansas City. The Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City. MDW Fair at Mana Contemporary, Chicago. The Front, New Orleans. Galleria Venenoise, Mexico City, Mexico, Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas City, Mo.
www.lopezcesar.com

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