A series of hybrid canvases by Mexican-American artist Daniela García Hamilton. García Hamilton received her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting from California State University Long Beach. Her work explores the rituals and traditions she experienced as a child of immigrant parents. Integrating colour and pattern throughout, García Hamilton explores the vibrancy of her traditions through portraits of her family members and settings that are fabricated to draw attention to social-political commentary on past and current immigrant experiences.

“Amanecer / Atardecer (Sunrise / Sunset)” marks García Hamilton’s first exhibition with Charlie James Gallery. Her works involve a combination of embroidery and oil painting. As a first-generation American, García Hamilton investigates legacies of tradition, the inevitability of assimilation, and the ways in which family histories replay themselves over time. She draws from an archive of family photos and stories, threading family members together across generations and borders. Many of the works in the exhibition feature García Hamilton’s late grandfather and her young nephew, his great-grandson who he never got a chance to meet. Her use of embroidery is similarly a reflection of her family history as it is something she took up after the passing of her grandfather. Both of García Hamilton’s grandparents worked in textiles and her grandfather was also the storyteller of the family.

“Amanecer / Atardecer” is on display at Charlie James Gallery in California until August 2nd. All photos by Ofstudio Photography.