Formation at Kinfolk House
'Formation'
Featuring work by Emily Mayo, Jenelle Esparza, and Earline Green
September 10 - November 12, 2022
Labor and the Land
Jenelle Esparza
Corpus Christi-born, San Antonio-based artist Jenelle Esparza examines the lesser-known history of cotton and labor in South Texas through photography, textile, and installation. Her research into this history was born out of her desire to better understand her family's experiences as laborers in South Texas.
Esparza's textile works are from her series titled Vessels and use cotton, wood, and a found object. The series title references Esparza's understanding of the body as a vessel. The use of cotton in the textile works and the bronze casting of cotton bolls, or seed pods, is a direct reference to her family's history of working the land. The installation is dedicated to Esparza's maternal grandmother Idolina Quintanilla Olivarez, who was a significant inspiration to the artist.