Julianny Ariza Vólquez’s Artpace Fall 2024 exhibition, AMAS DE LECHE, offers a profound exploration of female labor, centering on the historical and cultural legacy of wet nurses. This multidisciplinary exhibition employs painting, video art, and sculpture to illuminate the intricate roles of women in nurturing humanity, reflecting both the historical exploitation and the enduring resilience of women of color.
At the heart of the space is a series of sculptures crafted from ceramics, sand, woodcuts, and textiles. These materials—lace fabric, broken figurines, and high-relief ceramic shapes—are imbued with symbolic weight, representing the social and emotional burdens linked to female labor, reproductive roles, and the legacy of colonization. The woodcuts feature conjoined female bodies, each harboring other bodies; the intimate connection between women and the societal pressures tied to fertility, the impetus for Afro-female enslavement. The ceramics integrate motifs from the Dominican Republic’s three primary cultural influences: indigenous groups, African diaspora, and Spanish Catholicism. The act of sculpting itself is often associated with feminine, domestic, and artisanal traditions.
The installation’s broken porcelain and terracotta fragments, placed atop mounds of sand, link the three-dimensional work to the accompanying video art. The terracotta fragments are remnants of a previous piece made in the Dominican Republic, symbolizing indigenous presence and the land from which these groups were displaced. These fragments, featuring Guayzas—people’s souls according to indigenous lore—highlight the spiritual and historical connections to the land and its people.
Complementing the sculptures is the video art piece, Somos seres que esculpen aquello apaco, aquello que brilla (We are beings that sculpt, that which is opaque, that which shines), projected onto the gallery’s west wall. This video is divided into three stages—the expected female instinct to protect, the act of denial, and the cleansing ritual. The video employs terracotta pieces, porcelain figurines, and sand to connect with Caribbean culture and history. The sea symbolizes various elements of migration and dispossession, while the use of lace fabric and broken ceramics in the video underscores the themes of motherhood and female labor.
The repeated motif of three is seen throughout the exhibition. AMAS DE LECHE features large-scale paintings on the gallery’s east and south walls, which serve as cultural totems celebrating the historical roles of wet nurses. These paintings are deeply rooted in the diverse cultural influences of the Dominican Republic, combining indigenous, African, and Spanish Catholic artifacts. Ariza Volquez’s use of fire and water, illustrates empowerment and liberation and the historical significance of these women in society.
Julianny offers a poignant commentary of the enduring strength of the female body and mind despite violent injustice. Her work honors the shared history of wet nurses and provokes thoughtful consideration of how colonization has reverberated throughout contemporary society. AMAS DE LECHE is a mindful body of work that humanizes and glorifies women as important social beings, freeing them from the burden of reproduction and objectification. At Artpace, Julianny Ariza Vólquez offers a powerful commentary on the force of female resilience.
–Ada Smith Genitempo, Residencies and Exhibitions Manager
