Delilah Montoya has been creating art infused with activism since the early 1980’s. A major retrospective of her work opens Saturday at the Albuquerque Museum.
Montoya’s photography, printmaking, and large-scale installation art are rooted in the “Chicanismo” pride of New Mexico.
“When I was 16 years old, I wanted to be a Chicana artist. And I remember my teachers in high school says ‘There is no such thing as a Chicana artist,’ and I said ‘Well I’m gonna be one,’ So, I had a journey of inventing myself,” Montoya said.
She grew up in Nebraska, but her mother was from Las Vegas, New Mexico. When her family would go visit the state, she said she felt a sense of belonging because for her, New Mexico is “home.”
Activating Chicana Resistance showcases over four decades of Montoya’s work, tackling complex themes of ethnicity, race, religion, and the heritage of Chicano people.
“What I wanted to do in my work is create an aesthetic for my community,” Montoya said.
As crews finished installing the exhibit, we walked through and stopped in front of a floor-to-ceiling piece called Detention Nation. Montoya created it in 2015 in collaboration with the Sin Huellas Artists Collective in Houston as part of a larger project critiquing the state of immigrant detention centers.
“Nobody could really get inside of them. Nobody could see what was happening to a lot of the people who were being detained and deported, but we knew it was really dire,” Montoya said.
White silhouettes of families who were in detention are splayed across the blue gossamer. Montoya reflects on the state of immigrant detention in the U.S. today.
“These went up in 2015,” Montoya said. “Eleven years later, it has exploded.”
As a Chicana artist, her work is intrinsically tied to her activism.
“Being a voice for what you see in front of you and how you see it, and how you see manifesting itself,” Montoya said. “You know, our time right now is just so horrific, and people are going through a lot, and it's really important for that voice to be heard.”
Activating Chicana Resistance opens Saturday at the Albuquerque Museum, and an opening talk with Montoya and guest curator Josie Lopez will take place at 2 p.m.
The exhibit runs through May 3.
Find a video of the exhibit on our social media @KUNMnews
